Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

by Stayrr

After suffering from a heat stroke while working under the scorching heat of summer, Lu Zhou, a hardworking but poor university student, somehow becomes the owner of an advanced technological system. With the cheat given by the system, his university life changes overnight. A Master’s degree? Easy. PhD? Not a problem. From a nobody, he quickly becomes a huge celebrity in the wor

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Read Scholar's Advanced Technological System - Chapter 993 - But I Refuse! online free - Novelfull

Chapter 993 But I Refuse!

[Just went through customs, about to board the plane.]

[First of all, congratulations to Star Sky Technology for evading the antitrust investigation and patent litigation. We hope that our companies can continue to abide by laws and regulations.]

[Also, in response to the comments, I don't know what people are angry about. The International Trade Commission rejected the Department of Commerce investigation. Even though you have damaged the interests of our country, as long as you abide by the rules, we will protect your rights, this is the American spirit…]

"… These bunch of dogs, tagging me in any article they can, it's not like I'm an international relations expert…"

Inside a restaurant, Lu Zhou shook his head and wondered why Mr. Lawrence hadn't arrived yet. Suddenly, he noticed someone walking toward him.

The other person also noticed him. They walked toward him with a smile.

"Long time no see."

Lawrence put down his bag and sat across from Lu Zhou. He rested his hands on the table and said, "Time really flies by, it's been so long since you left Princeton."

"Oh, yeah."

Even though there were differences between Western and Asian standards, Lu Zhou could still tell that this guy was a well-dressed person.

David Lawrence.

Lu Zhou finally matched the name with a face.

Lu Zhou finally remembered that when he first arrived in Princeton, this history professor recommended him to join the Ivy food club.

He felt nostalgic thinking about this.

Lawrence had always been obsessed with finance; he only went into history research due to the pressure from his father.

However, it seemed like he was doing quite well for himself since he was now working in finance.

After staring at Lawrence for a while, Lu Zhou spoke.

"You've changed."

Lawrence smiled and replied, "Everyone changes, aren't you the same? From a pure mathematician to a world-renowned scholar… And me, I never wanted to go into history, but —"

"I mean you've gotten older."

Lawrence nearly choked on the water. He put down the cup and coughed.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled awkwardly.

"I was still in my late twenties back then… But you haven't changed a bit at all."

Lu Zhou smiled and put his phone into his pocket.

"Thanks… but I'm quite surprised, I didn't expect you to study history."

"History is just my hobby, finance is my real passion." Lawrence smiled and said, "Of course, reading those books inside Firestone Library did help my career a little bit."

Lu Zhou: "Like what?"

Lawrence: "Isn't there a saying? History repeats itself."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Not necessarily, at least not in mathematics. In order to solve new problems, we have to create new ideas, deduce new ideas from old theories, and jump out of the original framework… It would be great if history could provide me with a little help, but that's often not the case."

Like Riemann's hypothesis.

He had read almost every paper on Riemann's hypothesis over the past century and a half; however, none of them were able to inspire him.

It wasn't until he introduced differentiable manifold theories into complex analysis did he finally make some amount of progress.

Which was, the hyperelliptic curve analysis method.

However, this was only considered a small progress. He still had a long way to go, and for now, he couldn't see the finish line.

"Oh, really? No wonder mathematics is so fascinating to you."

"I guess so…" Lu Zhou smiled at Lawrence and said, "Speaking of which, did you come all the way here to visit me?"

"It wouldn't be truthful to say I didn't." Lawrence smiled and said, "Want to join forces?"

Lu Zhou didn't know why, but he felt like this guy was a little unusual, and it gave him the chills.

"… Join forces? On what?"

"Whether it's scientific research or business, money is involved in everything." Lawrence smiled and said, "For example, you plan on buying EVgo, right?"

The f*ck?

How did you know?

Lu Zhou gave him a surprised look but didn't say anything, because he didn't know if Lawrence happened to make a lucky guess, or if Lawrence really knew.

However, it was as if Lawrence saw through Lu Zhou's mind. Lawrence smiled and spoke.

"Don't be nervous, I'm not testing you. If you don't want to admit it, I understand… Then, let's just say, hypothetically, you plan on acquiring EVgo and use it to penetrate the US market."

Lawrence cleared his throat and spoke in a calm voice.

"There aren't many electric vehicles in America, but it is still profitable. Especially after the fusion power station in California, the demand for electric vehicles will surge. It is not difficult to take a part of the market share, you just have to invest wisely. Our analysts have calculated that if you want an 80% coverage of charging stations in the West Coast, you would have to spend at least US$5 billion.

"This is not a small number. I'm sure even a bank would think twice before lending you this amount. But I'm different, we're… investors. Not only can we provide you the necessary resources, but we can also get you out of trouble and ensure your business runs smoothly."

Lawrence smiled at Lu Zhou, who was sitting across from him.

"And that goes beyond charging stations.

"The funds of Boston Financial Group can easily help you become the world's top high-tech company. No one will be able to stop you, you can do whatever you want…"

Lawrence quietly looked at Lu Zhou while waiting for him to reply.

Time slowly passed by…

Twenty seconds passed by.

Lu Zhou suddenly smiled and spoke.

"Sounds interesting."

Lawrence smiled as if he had just won the Olympics. He reached out his hand and spoke.

"Then let's—"

Lu Zhou: "But no, thanks."

Lawrence: "…???"

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Chapter 994 Pirate Culture

There was an awkward atmosphere in the air.

It was almost as if time and space were frozen.

Lawrence's face stiffened; it was as if his smile turned into stone.

However, admirably, he still maintained his demeanor and retracted his right hand like a robot.

Time quickly passed by.

The awkward atmosphere continued to entwine around the dining table.

The silence was broken by the waiter bringing food.

Lawrence coughed and spoke unhappily.

"Can I know why? I think my proposal is quite attractive."

"Attractive for you." Lu Zhou said calmly, "I know there is no such thing as a free meal in the world. If I accept your investment, that means we have to give up equity. Is that correct?"

Lawrence: "Of course… Like you said, there's no such thing as a free meal. But there is such a thing as a win-win situation! We can both become richer by working together!"

Lu Zhou: "Correct, but will Star Sky Technology be yours or mine? Will it be Chinese or American?"

"That… depends on how you define it." Lawrence paused for a second and said, "But does it really matter who owns it? Star Sky Technology could be worth US$100 billion. You might have less equity, but your net worth will still increase."

Lu Zhou said, "I think it matters."

Lu Zhou spoke in a serious tone.

"For me, it is important to research whatever I want, that is the important part. That is why I founded the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and Star Sky Technology. If you told me I can turn 100 billion into 200 billion… Why should I care?"

The atmosphere at the table was silent.

After a while, Lawrence loosened his shoulders and leaned back on his chair.

"I see… I thought we had the possibility of working together, I thought you could see the mutual benefits."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I thought you Americans like to follow rules, shouldn't you talk to the Star Sky Technology CEO about this?"

Lawrence smiled and said, "Rules? You must not know America well at all."

Lu Zhou: "Oh, yeah?"

"Ships that first colonized America more or less were filled with pirates, and the 'good citizens' only set foot on America on the premise that it would be beneficial for them. When times got hard, they would loot indigenous people and take what they wanted.

"There is a manuscript about John Adams in the Firestone Library, and it details his research on this cultural phenomenon. He understands Americans at such a deep level.

"And I call this cultural phenomenon, piracy."

Lu Zhou looked at Lawrence's smile and frowned.

"I'm surprised."

"About what?"

"In Chinese history, we often use piracy as a derogatory term… In our culture, pirates are not romanticized."

"It is equally disgraceful in our culture. Pirates were hanged, left to be eaten by crows…" Lawrence shrugged and said, "But if all you need is a boat and some men, then a lot of people would turn to sin."

Lawrence pushed against the table and stood up.

"I just want to ask you one question. I don't want to become your enemy, but… the world is often controlled by invisible powers.

"Just like how gravitational forces keep us on the ground, history repeats itself. Nothing can stop this, no one person, company, or even country. But if one follows the invisible power, they will be rewarded by history. Do you know what I mean?"

Lu Zhou: "No, I believe in science, not metaphysics."

Except when I'm doing a prize draw.

Lawrence: "Okay, then… Are you really not going to think about it?"

"No need."

"That's unfortunate." Lawrence sighed and said, "Maybe next time, you won't be against small players like ExxonMobil or Tesla."

"Oh, yeah?"

Lu Zhou gently smiled.

"We'll see what happens."

…

After that, Lawrence left without eating.

Even though Lawrence said he was full, Lu Zhou noticed that Lawrence didn't eat a single bite.

But honestly, Lu Zhou thought this restaurant was pretty good, so he might come here again.

After eating his meal, Lu Zhou left the restaurant and went into his car, which was parked at the entrance.

When he got in his car, Wang Peng had just finished a phone call.

"Where are we going?"

"To Zhongshan International."

"Okay."

The car went on the road.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the back seat when he took out his phone.

He was about to finish the article he was reading, but the article was no longer there.

Hmm…

Was it removed?

Damn it, I forgot to save it.

Lu Zhou shook his head and opened Weibo.

He was about to interact with his fans when he suddenly got an email notification.

He saw that the email was from the International Mathematical Union.

Lu Zhou saw the email address and had a headache.

Over the past few days, he had been cogitating on whether or not he should go to the conference. He knew the email was probably the IMU asking him to upload his 60-minute report thesis online.

Lu Zhou opened the email and began to think about how he should euphemistically reject them, but he suddenly froze.

After a while, Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and spoke.

"Wang Peng."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm going to St. Petersburg in August."

"Okay, I'll arrange for you… Just wondering, did you make progress on Riemann's hypothesis?"

"No… It has nothing to do with the report."

Wang Peng: "Then?"

Lu Zhou put down his phone and spoke.

"To collect a prize."

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Chapter 995 Sneaky People

Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.

A piece of large experimental equipment shaped like a barrel lying on its side was inside a laboratory.

There were three console displays next to this "barrel".

A group of workers wearing dust-free and anti-static clothing stood in front of the console. They nervously operated this equipment under the command of Professor Wu Tianqun.

Director Li was observing everything from a distance, and he looked emotional as he put his hands behind his back.

After a couple of minutes, the director suddenly spoke to Lu Zhou.

"The Americans screwed us."

Lu Zhou glanced at him and spoke.

"Screwed?"

Director Li nodded.

"Yeah, haven't you noticed? They dismissed the Department of Commerce investigation against Star Sky Technology on the grounds of insufficient evidence, but that's not the whole story. Once the Department of Commerce collects enough evidence, they can restart the investigation… That is totally a possibility."

Lu Zhou nodded his head.

Damn these Americans are sneaky.

Quite an annoying tactic.

Basically, the White House could restart the antitrust investigation any time they wanted.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't worried about this. After all, Chen Yushan had probably thought of a solution already.

Why should he worry about this…

When he had a CEO?

Seeing how Lu Zhou was unfazed, Director Li paused for a second and spoke.

"The Americans are coming after our high-tech companies. Their ideal Chinese companies are companies that claim to be high tech, but work at the low end of the industrial chain and have the smallest profit margins. Once our companies surpass them in a field, they'll feel the pressure and fight back.

"I'd be willing to bet that within two years after the California nuclear core is delivered, they'll be able to figure out the secrets of controllable fusion reactors and start attacking again.

"But you don't have to worry too much."

Lu Zhou carelessly smiled and spoke.

"Actually, I talked about this with Academician Wang Zengguang and Pan Changhong. We don't judge others on their worst days, but we should always be prepared. When push comes to shove, we must ensure that we have the initiative."

Director Li started to feel nervous.

"You're not telling me that you left a back door in the nuclear core, right?"

Director Li wasn't against doing this, but Lu Zhou doing this on his own initiative would be a little too scary. It would be like a citizen having their own nuclear switch.

"You're overthinking. How would that even be possible?" Lu Zhou smiled as Director Li sighed in relief. He said, "Also, there's no need for that…

"The controllable fusion reactor control scheme and the plasma turbulence control scheme are written by us."

It would be extremely easy to make the control scheme do some funny stuff.

Director Li spoke.

"Oh, I see, I thought you left something inside the nuclear core."

Lu Zhou laughed.

"Why would I do that?"

While they were speaking, the experiment was over.

The slowly rotating barrel stopped, a metal slot popped out, revealing a thumbnail-sized chip in front of the researchers.

This wasn't their first time succeeding.

Even though they were excited, no one cheered.

Professor Wu Tianqun skillfully removed the chip from the metal slot and carefully loaded it into a brown glass vessel. He then turned toward Director Li and Lu Zhou.

"The experiment was successful.

"So far, we've been able to create chips with 3 million transistors per square millimeter. Even though this is just a laboratory experiment, we're getting closer and closer to 30 million. Also, we've found a way to improve the integration of the transistors…

"I'm sure that we'll be able to achieve our goal within a year!

"Good job."

Lu Zhou nodded toward Professor Wu Tianqun and took the brown glass from his hand. He then handed it to Director Li.

Director Li took the brown glass container and carefully examined it for a while. He then handed it to the secretary standing behind him.

He watched the secretary carefully place the chip into a metal suitcase. He then looked at Lu Zhou and spoke solemnly.

"I'll take it back to Beijing and hand it over to the experts at the Institute of Semiconductors!"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Thank you."

Even though the experiment was successful, one sample was not enough. After some data collection, Professor Wu Tianqun quickly began the next set of experiments.

Lu Zhou and Director Li had nothing else to do here; they turned around and left the laboratory.

Director Li suddenly remembered something and spoke to Lu Zhou.

"Oh yeah, you plan on going to St. Petersburg in August?"

Lu Zhou gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

"No problem, traveling is good. You'll be the representative of our academic community." Director Li smiled and said, "Speaking of which, did you receive military training in college?"

Lu Zhou said, "Of course, it's mandatory."

That counted toward my GPA!

"I guess… What about shooting training?"

"I haven't… Just tell me what you want…" Lu Zhou sighed and said, "You must want something from me."

"Hey! Am I that kind of person?" The old man smiled and said, "But I do have something I need you to do, it's for your own good."

"What?"

"Even though our security department has been in contact with Russian personnel, accidents still happen, right? After all, you're not just an ordinary scholar anymore; if anything happens, it'll be a loss to humanity—"

Lu Zhou: "Just say it."

Director Li smiled awkwardly and said, "Just let our guys train you for a week. We don't expect you to defend yourself, but it'll make it easier for us to rescue you."

Lu Zhou: "…?!"

What the hell?

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Chapter 996 Aerospace Forces

Eastern Theater Command General Hospital.

After Wang Peng parked the car, he opened the trunk and took out two large duffel bags.

The bags contained some fruit, milk, and other goods.

Wang Peng closed the trunk and walked toward the elevator with the two bags.

A nurse in a white coat was writing behind a special ward reception desk.

She noticed Wang Peng walking in, so she asked, "Hello, sir, who are you?"

"Wang Peng, visiting a wounded buddy. His name is Li Gaoliang. Here's my ID."

The nurse took the ID from Wang Peng and frowned.

She was wondering why a Ministry of State Security member was visiting someone from the army.

After all, Li Gaoliang was not an ordinary person. Apparently, he was connected to sensitive medical experimental equipment, so anyone outside of his family would have a hard time visiting him.

Most of the people who visited him were experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences…

"Sorry, please wait a second."

The nurse stood up and walked into the office.

Wang Peng smiled at the guard that was staring intently at him and stood there without a worry in the world.

After a couple of minutes, the nurse came back with a doctor in his sixties.

Wang Peng recognized this doctor; his name was Zhou Youde. Wang Peng met him when he visited Lu Zhou. Apparently, he was a celebrity doctor and was in the Changjiang Scholars Program.

Wang Peng and Zhou Youde made eye contact.

Zhou Youde immediately recognized him.

"I… know you!" Zhou Youde said as he stared at Wang Peng. He then said, "You're Academician Lu's security, right? I saw you next to him last time…"

Wang Peng smiled and nodded.

"Kind of, Professor Zhou, long time no see."

Even though Wang Peng was technically a driver, he carried weapons on him at all times.

"Come in… Oh, come on, what are you guys doing, give him some water, don't let him wait outside like this!"

The nurse lowered her head in shame as Wang Peng spoke.

"She was just looking out for the patient, it's fine."

The nurse quietly whispered, "Yeah… I didn't know if he was a spy or something."

"Enough!"

Zhou Youde turned toward Wang Peng and spoke politely.

"Let's go inside, Battalion Commander Li is in the rehabilitation center."

Wang Peng nodded and followed Zhou Youde to the rehabilitation center.

On the way to the rehabilitation center, he saw many people walking with crutches or in wheelchairs. This was one of the best hospitals in the Eastern Theater Command area. Most people here were in the military.

Wang Peng looked at Professor Zhou and spoke.

"How is Battalion Commander Li's recovery going?"

Zhou Youde nodded and said, "I don't even believe it myself. The surgeon said he would be lucky to be able to live in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. But now, he's walking, running, and even playing basketball. His reaction speed has even increased."

In fact, that was an understatement.

With titanium alloy bones and electric motion systems, once the brain adapted to the new inputs, dunking the ball was a piece of cake…

Of course, then again, it would be impossible to wear this device to the Olympic games. This was more powerful than doping.

Zhou Youde paused for a second and looked at Wang Peng. He spoke in a solemn tone.

"… Please thank Academician Lu for me! His neural interface system is a godsend! Once the technology matures, thousands of people will be able to function normally again!"

"I will pass on your thanks, I'm sure he will be happy."

Zhou Youde nodded at Wang Peng's promise.

"Okay, thanks!"

They soon arrived at the rehabilitation center.

There weren't many people inside. In fact, there was only one person.

A man in a singlet stood in the middle of the wooden floor. It looked like he was practicing shadow boxing, which Wang Peng instantly recognized.

What surprised Wang Peng was his speed and agility; it was like he had never been injured as he moved around like a snake.

Wang Peng estimated that if he got punched in the face, he would probably get knocked out.

Zhou Youde was about to shout at Li Gaoliang, but Wang Peng stopped him.

"Let him continue."

"Okay then, you guys talk, I have to go."

"Okay, take it easy."

Zhou Youde walked away as Wang Peng continued to watch Li Gaoliang.

A couple of minutes went by.

Li Gaoliang took a break and was about to drink some water when he heard someone speak from the entrance.

"Not bad!"

Li Gaoliang smiled at Wang Peng and walked over.

"What brings you here?"

"I finally had some spare time, so I came to visit you. How are you? How's recovery?"

Li Gaoliang laughed and said, "It's amazing! Come, let me practice on you."

"Forget about it, I don't want to hurt you." Wang Peng smiled and placed the bags on the floor.

"Professor Lu wanted to visit you in person, but he went to training. This bag is mine, that bag is his. Since you're recovering so well, I won't drop them off in your room, you can carry them yourself."

Li Gaoliang sighed as he looked at the bags.

"Ah, you're too kind."

Wang Peng shook his head and spoke seriously.

"Not kind, also…"

He put on a more serious face and spoke.

"Other than to see you, I also came here for a mission."

Li Gaoliang's eyes lit up.

"Mission? I can return to the field?"

"You might," Wang Peng said. "The higher-ups want me to ask you, you have two options, one is to retire and move to a—"

Li Gaoliang interrupted Wang Peng and said, "Give me the second option, I'm in my thirties, I'm not going to retire."

"I knew you would say that." Wang Peng sighed and said, "The second option is to join the aerospace forces in the Eastern Theater Command. If you're interested, you can get in. You'll be the same rank as before, but there will be lesser people under your command."

"Aerospace forces?" Li Gaoliang asked, "What is that?"

"Aerospace forces…" Wang Peng didn't know how to explain, so he said, "Basically, we need to train new forces to keep up with the times, we need troops above the low-Earth orbit."

Li Gaoliang: "What is this nonsense? I don't know how to fly planes!"

"You don't need to fly a plane; the higher-ups mainly want you for management and logistics."

Li Gaoliang: "Can I go back to my original position?"

"I'm afraid not…"

Li Gaoliang sighed and waved his hand.

"Okay then, I'll go to the aerospace forces… It's better than retiring."

Wang Peng nodded and continued, "Okay then, I have something else to tell you."

Li Gaoliang: "What?"

Wang Peng: "The higher-ups want you to register within 2 days and complete basic training as soon as possible. There will be a drill in thirty days. The Eastern Theater Command aerospace forces will participate."

Li Gaoliang had a serious look.

"Drill? Can you tell me more?"

Wang Peng nodded.

"Counter-terrorism, overseas support…

"And hostage rescue!"

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Chapter 997 Archimedes Trouble

Boom!

A round was fired out of the muzzle.

Lu Zhou felt the heat of the bullet on his arms. The shell peeled from the casing, leaving behind a trace of smoke.

However, he didn't have time to react; his attention was totally focused on pressing the trigger.

Bang!

Bang!

The gun fired ten times.

All within ten seconds.

Lu Zhou turned off the safety switch and placed the gun on the table. He took off his noise-canceling ear muffs as Yan Yan spoke to him.

"Hit half of them in the chest target… Not bad, it only took you three days to get to this level. It took me a week to get to your level. Is there anything mathematicians can't do? Do you calculate the trajectory of the bullet?"

"Of course not, you can't really apply mathematics. At most, mathematics makes me a faster learner at other things." Lu Zhou looked at the target and said, "Also, this is a fixed target. If the target and I were moving, I wouldn't be able to hit anything."

It had been two weeks since he arrived at this training base on the outskirts of Haizhou.

Over the past two weeks, with the help of Yan Yan and people from the General Staff Department, he had been receiving training in shooting, first aid, and evacuation.

Even though the training wasn't difficult, it was excruciatingly boring.

After the excitement of being able to fire a gun wore off, the shootings made his wrist and shoulders hurt.

"Don't be too pessimistic." Yan Yan patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and said, "How about try shooting a moving target later?"

"No, thanks. It hurts my wrists." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "Also, will I get to carry a gun?"

Yan Yan answered without any hesitation, "No."

Even though Lu Zhou knew she would say this, he still couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"… Then what's the point."

Lu Zhou hated wasting time on meaningless things.

"Practicing isn't for you to carry a gun everywhere, it's for you to know how it works. More importantly, it gives you a basic understanding of the types of guns…"

Yan Yan contemplated for a second before she shrugged and said, "… So you won't pee your pants when you see a gun."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Pee my pants…

What an exaggeration.

Lu Zhou felt like he would be scared in an intense scenario, but he definitely wouldn't pee his pants.

Lu Zhou spoke.

"So you have experience in this area then?"

Yan Yan paused for a second and glared at him.

"… Don't talk back to me! I'm your teacher, just listen!"

She cleared her throat and said seriously, "Shooting practice is over, theory class is next! First question, what should you do if your convoy was attacked, but you survived?"

Lu Zhou: "Get out of the car and find a bunker?"

Yan Yan said, "Wrong! The correct answer is to stay in the car. Congratulations, you just made yourself twice as likely to die. Trust in your driver, they are soldiers, they know what to do! Normally, there are three identical vehicles in your fleet, so getting off the vehicle will reveal your position!

"Second question. After you got off the car, you heard a gunshot, and it came from a tall building nearby. The attacker has a high power sniper rifle, what would you do?"

Lu Zhou wanted to go back in the car, but he thought about what if the sniper had armor-piercing bullets?

So, he changed his answer and spoke.

"… Run in a zigzag line?"

That's probably the right answer.

I mean, I can't run in a straight line, right?

However, Yan Yan began scolding him.

"Zigzag? What is this, Fortnite? Congratulations, you just doubled your chance of death again! The right answer is to find cover and stay put, and wait for someone to rescue you! Third question, what do you do if someone points a gun at you. This question is as easy as it gets."

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

What does she want me to say?

Apparently, this is an easy question.

A nitrogen shield from my system inventory?

It should work.

But it's not like I can tell her that.

Also, that thing is one-time use only, and I don't know how powerful it is since I've never tried it.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a while and wasn't able to find a good solution.

Logically speaking, I'm a mathematician that spent his entire life in a library. It's not like I can do anything if a trained soldier points a gun to my face?

Unless that soldier was kicked in the head by a donkey.

Lu Zhou spoke in an uncertain tone.

"… Close my eyes and hope for the best?"

Yan Yan sighed.

"… I'm so done with you, how do you always answer so incorrectly."

Lu Zhou would certainly die if this were a real-life scenario.

However, this time, Yan Yan didn't ridicule him.

After a while, she spoke in a serious tone.

"When the time comes… Just surrender."

Lu Zhou: "Isn't that embarrassing?"

Yan Yan said, "It's better than dying! Remember, your life is the most important thing! You're not just an ordinary person, don't do anything stupid."

Don't worry, I'll try not to.

Lu Zhou sighed and spoke.

"… If it's so dangerous I should just not go."

Lu Zhou didn't want to bother others.

Even though the International Congress of Mathematicians was interesting, not to mention the organizer was going to give him a prize, he didn't expect it to be such a hassle.

He had already been training here for two weeks.

He would rather stay in his room and study mathematics problems.

Yan Yan quickly spoke.

"No, don't, you've already gone through two weeks of training, it's a waste to give up now. Also, I'm just making sure you're prepared. Better be safe than sorry. I'm just making sure that, in the event of an unlikely scenario, you're more likely to stay safe."

Lu Zhou: "If someone as skilled as Wang Peng attacks me, I don't think there's anything I can do."

Yan Yan said, "But you can't just give up! At least find a safe place to hide."

"Then?"

"Then we'll save you!"

"Save me… all the way in Russia?"

"Sort of."

Lu Zhou said, "How do you plan on going there?"

Yan Yan smiled mysteriously.

"You'll know in two weeks."

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Chapter 998 Steel Is Our Footprin

The beginning of July.

A military base in the Eastern Theater Command.

Military vehicles drove through the camp, preparing for the upcoming exercise.

A weirdly-shaped silver-white plane was sitting in the middle of the camp, out in the open.

With two short and two long wings, as well as a large cylindrical engine, it didn't look like something that was able to fly in the air. However, its perfect success rate was able to dispel any worries.

This plane was named Starlight.

After the spacecraft was delivered to the Eastern Theater Command, the aerospace forces gave it a more domineering name.

Which was, Thunderbird.

Just like thunder, it could soar hundreds of kilometers above the sky.

This aerospaceplane could be used to transport equipment to low-Earth orbit, as well as carry ballistic missile attacks in outer space.

Li Gaoliang got off the military truck. He was wearing special combat clothing and a rifle across his chest. When he glanced at the silver aerospaceplane, he couldn't help but feel amazed.

He didn't expect technology to progress at a rate far beyond his imagination; he would have never imagined the military to have this kind of technology.

It had been a month since he was discharged from the hospital and put into the aerospace forces.

This past month had been more rewarding than anything he had ever done.

He saw weapons he had never heard of before, pieces of equipment that he didn't know existed, and was even taught secret combat tactics.

According to his instructors, they were the world's most technologically advanced military base.

Both the requirements for deployment speed and scope of the aerospace forces were far higher than traditional marine and army troops.

They had extremely strict requirements for survival ability and physical fitness.

Their role was to quickly cross the front line during combat and perform precise strikes on important enemy targets. During peaceful times, they had to protect important facilities and dignitaries.

Apparently, their training tactics were developed by several professors at the National Defence University. And that this was the first time the training plan was put to use.

While Li Gaoliang was reciting the training outline in his head, a military officer in camouflage walked in front of them.

"Attention!"

"Yes, sir!"

The officer looked at the row of soldiers and nodded.

"Drill exercise begins in ten minutes.

"I hope you all have done your studies, so I won't waste our time.

"I just have one thing to say. The faster you are, the more likely you will survive. Be ruthless, treat this drill like a real war!

"Now, tell me, what's our first code of conduct!"

Li Gaoliang and his teammates standing behind him yelled, "To never surrender and evade capture!"

The officer standing in front of the soldiers shouted, "Let's go!"

The soldiers began moving.

A total of twenty people were divided into five groups. They boarded the Thunderbird aerospaceplane in an orderly manner.

Li Gaoliang sat in the cabin seat and connected the life support system to his combat uniform. He then counted down in his heart and waited patiently.

Soon, he felt a gentle vibration from his chair, shaking his entire body.

Vehicles near the aerospaceplane have been evacuated. With the ground command center's guidance, the Thunderbird slowly accelerated on the runway and took off.

A beam of hot blue plasma was ejected from the engine as the aircraft flew toward deep space.

Li Gaoliang looked at the clouds outside the window and took a deep breath.

They would reach low-Earth orbit in half an hour.

And from there, they would complete the world's highest skydiving record…

A teammate's voice was heard in the communication channel.

"Jesus, this is my first time flying this high."

"We're at 20 kilometers right now… Already above the limit of normal planes."

"This is my first time skydiving at this altitude."

"What if your parachute doesn't open?"

"Shut up!"

For most people sitting in the cabin, this was their first time flying at such high altitudes. They were bound to feel a little nervous.

Therefore, Li Gaoliang didn't stop his teammates from chatting.

Most of the time, chatting was a way to relieve pressure and nerves. Even though he preferred to close his eyes and rest his mind, other people coped in different ways.

Li Gaoliang looked away from the window and shut his eyes.

In order to perform his best, he wanted to meditate for a while.

However, one of his teammates talked to him.

"Captain, are we going to a space station?"

Li Gaoliang cogitated for a second.

Before the exercise drill, the officer told them they had to transfer to another "airplane" to complete the sky diving exercise, but he didn't tell them where to transfer.

The Moon Palace was an international scientific research institution, which was obviously inappropriate for military purposes.

As for the other…

Li Gaoliang thought for a second and spoke.

"There's no space station.

"But we do have a Magpie Bridge."

…

Li Gaoliang didn't expect his guess to be correct.

The Thunderbird aerospaceplane slowly approached the dark spacecraft that was the Magpie Bridge.

Due to their distorted sense of distance in space, it wasn't until the two spacecraft were close enough that Li Gaoliang could finally see that Magpie Bridge he once saw on television.

Of course, this Magpie Bridge was different from the one that traveled between the Earth and Moon every day.

Just like the Thunderbird they were riding on, the "Magpie Bridge" was just its model name.

Its real name was the "Great Wall".

The Great Wall was China's first and only carrier-type ship sailing in outer space, just like its name implied, it was defending China's outermost terrain.

Normally, the Great Wall was cruising outside in synchronous orbit, with four people stationed on duty. But when necessary, it could be used as the aerospace forces headquarters, providing support to all units flying in low-Earth orbit.

The two spacecraft finally completed docking.

Li Gaoliang sighed in relief, but he wasn't relaxed at all.

Up until now, everything was done by the spacecraft pilots and the ground command center.

Their training mission had only just begun!

Li Gaoliang released the life support system and led his team to the spacecraft connection port, reaching the main cabin of the Great Wall.

Inside the cabin, there were five black pyramid-shaped airborne modules.

Just like their training, everyone boarded the airborne module and checked their weapons and ammunition.

Li Gaoliang tried to control his breathing as he completed his tasks and closed the airborne module door.

The second he closed the door, he heard his commander's voice through his headset.

"Great Wall is entering orbit!"

"Current altitude is 117.4 kilometers, reaching the target area in two minutes!"

Li Gaoliang started breathing harder and harder.

Even though he couldn't see outside the cabin, he felt like he was one step from falling out of the Great Wall.

They were 100 kilometers above ground.

There was no sound here.

There wasn't even air.

However, they could still feel a sense of coldness.

"Target area reached, remember what your mission is!

"Good luck, soldiers!"

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Chapter 999 We Can Do It!

Lu Zhou swore that this was the most spectacular fireworks he had ever seen.

Of course, it was also the most expensive one.

The airborne modules descending from the sky were like meteors that flew through the cold night.

Lu Zhou stood next to a military jeep and looked at the airborne modules through binoculars with a look of shock in his eyes.

After a while, he put away the telescope and spoke emotionally.

"… You guys actually made this thing?"

Lu Zhou was the "hostage" in this anti-terrorist training mission. Therefore, he was in the center of the action.

He had a front-row seat to the show.

Lu Zhou still remembered when they tested the escape capsule on the Skyglow test flight.

Back then, Lu Zhou and Director Li went to the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert to select a site for the Garden project. The second Director Li saw the escape capsule, he couldn't keep his eyes off the thing, and he immediately asked about using it in the army.

Due to various reasons, Lu Zhou didn't give him high hopes. He told the director that this thing was equivalent to a space return module with an engine. If the director could handle the costs, he was free to try it out.

Lu Zhou didn't expect Director Li to actually consult an expert and create a military-use escape capsule.

Director Li stood next to Lu Zhou, also with a telescope around his neck. He smiled and spoke.

"Haha, I didn't expect you to be surprised, it seems like the couple hundred million was well spent."

"… Couple hundred million?"

"Yeah, that was the research and development cost." Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and said, "Actually, when the Air Force Equipment Department talked to me about this, I was even more surprised than you.

"When this project was initially proposed, not many people were optimistic about it. I thought it was worth a try. I didn't expect the academicians from the Air Force Equipment Research Institute actually made this thing."

Lu Zhou: "This thing isn't cheap, right?"

Director Li nodded and said, "It's not cheap. Nothing military related is cheap. Fortunately, the aerospace costs aren't high, and the cost of sending people to space is acceptable. Basically, an escape module is about the cost of a medium-range missile, and missiles are one-time use.

"Also, that's just the module itself. If you add the accessories and equipment mounted to the module, it's worth two missiles."

After more than two years of development, the military version of the escape capsule had many advantages over the original "Lightning" capsule.

Just like its name implied, compared to the "Lightning" module, which emphasized on capacity and survivability of crew members, the "Thunder" module emphasized on its airborne tactical abilities.

The best kind of defense was offense. When the module was 50 meters off the ground, it would activate smoke bombs to stealth its landing. It could also discharge explosives and metal fragments for further damage.

The "Thunder" escape capsule also had less food, medicine, and survival tool storage than the Lightning escape capsule. The maximum number of occupants was also decreased from six to four people.

Director Li spoke emotionally.

"But… even though it's a bit expensive, the value we're getting from the airborne module is equivalent to 10 medium-range missiles!"

While they were talking, the airborne capsule descending from the sky had landed on a hill two kilometers away, releasing a cloud of smoke.

Lu Zhou felt the vibration of the ground as he spoke to Yan Yan, who was standing next to the jeep.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't I act like I'm hurt and lie down on the ground?"

Yan Yan smiled and said, "You can, do you want me to help you?"

Lu Zhou looked at his shirt.

"Never mind, I like this shirt."

Director Li suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, if something does happen… Your life is more important than your shirt."

Lu Zhou: "… I know."

While they were talking, the group of soldiers armed with rifles already arrived at their target area, surrounding the jeep and everyone around it.

"The Thunder squad has reached the target area, target personnel is safe!

"Continue to the next exercise!

"Roger that."

Lu Zhou felt like the captain's voice sounded familiar, but because the soldiers were covered in gear, he couldn't tell who the captain was.

Lu Zhou could sense the captain looking at him.

Lu Zhou smiled at him and didn't interrupt their exercise. He watched as the group of soldiers disappeared into the woods.

It took 49 minutes and 27 seconds from launch for the airborne soldiers to arrive at the hostage area.

On the battlefield, time was everything. Even a 10-minute difference in evacuation time could change the entire battle.

The officer standing next to Lu Zhou looked at his watch and nodded with approval.

"It's a lucky day. If it were raining, we would be in trouble."

Lu Zhou: "It already feels like trouble."

"Oh yeah."

Director Li looked at the flares falling from the sky and nodded.

"Even the Americans can't send a team of soldiers anywhere in the world in under an hour…

"But we can!"

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Chapter 1000 Temporary Suspension

While the anti-terrorism exercise was underway, China was going through the middle of the night.

However, on the other side of the planet, it was noon in North America.

Normally, most of the Pentagon employees would be enjoying a cup of coffee, sitting in their air-conditioned office, or chatting with their colleagues about international politics or the game on Saturday…

However, today was different.

From eight o'clock in the morning until now, the entire Pentagon was like a tightly wound music box; everyone walked around briskly with tension in the air.

The reason for this was because of the anti-terrorism "exercise" that was happening tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Inside a conference room in the Pentagon, a wall covered in screens was displaying satellite images taken from the Okinawa base in Japan. Even though the escape modules flying through the sky could only be seen as a glimpse of light, the landing impact area was clearly visible…

Everyone in the conference room looked at the screens and held their breaths.

After a minute or so, the president spoke.

"Play it back…"

The Secretary of Defense nodded toward a worker, who took a deep breath and pressed a button.

The video began to play on the screen.

Everyone in the conference room witnessed the escape module breaking through the atmosphere, releasing a cloud of smoke on its impact.

Even though they were thousands of kilometers away, it was as if they could smell the smoke through the screen…

After a while, NASA Director Carson spoke.

"F*ck sake! Terrorism exercises my as*… What kind of terrorism exercise uses this kind of equipment?"

Of course, he was angry.

But for some reason, the entire conference room became silent. Several senior officials looked at each other, including the president.

Director Carson noticed this silence, so he paused for a second and remained quiet.

After a long time, Kevin, the Chief of Staff, broke the silence.

"The people inside the capsule didn't die, this is impossible…"

The Pentagon aerospace expert pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "The speed of the airborne capsule through the low altitude was fast, but its speed upon landing is actually not that fast. The smoke is likely not due to the impact. It was probably due to weapons, such as smoke bombs—"

The president interrupted the aerospace expert and spoke.

"Is the analysis report done? About the equipment identification."

The Pentagon's Defence Minister and Intelligence Chief looked at each other. The Intelligence Chief spoke.

"The report is out…"

Soon after, a report was delivered to the conference room.

The president took the report and began reading it line by line.

Time quickly passed by.

Everyone was waiting for him to finish reading the report.

Kevin was sitting next to the president. He felt like the president's fingers were trembling.

Actually, Kevin was right.

Even the President himself didn't know how to explain what he was feeling.

Less than 50 minutes of flight time.

Theoretically, this capsule could deploy to any corner of the world within an hour. Whether it was Antarctica or the Amazon forest, the White House or the Pentagon…

There was no place on planet Earth that was safe. Any office building could be broken into at any moment.

More importantly, these paratroopers could bypass any legal airspace!

This sounded a little scary…

Somehow, the conference room went into chaos.

"It's time to create strict international conventions to limit this evil weapon. We should increase our airspace altitude! We should also expand the international treaty and prohibit unconventional weapons entering outer space orbit! Not a single bullet should be allowed in space!"

"Are you crazy? Our airspace altitude limit is only 35 kilometers! You want to raise it higher? Even if we do raise it, what can we possibly do if they disobey our laws? It's not like our missiles can reach their spacecraft."

Airspace altitudes were not strictly defined by international laws. Generally speaking, the lowest airspace height for a recognized satellite was 100 kilometers. In the United States, the upper limit for aircraft was 35 kilometers. After all, America had aircraft that could go beyond 35 kilometers, allowing them to "legally" fly over certain areas.

However, anything beyond 110 kilometers wasn't bound by international laws.

Even if the most advanced air defense radar could detect aircraft traveling in this area, the means of enforcing this law were quite limited.

Forget about a spacecraft that could maneuver and change the trajectory.

Even hitting a stationary satellite at that altitude would be difficult.

It was almost impossible for them to stop the aerospace paratroopers.

"Are we just going to let them patrol over our heads? China is provoking us! We should take the necessary responses!"

"But that won't ease any political tensions, it will only make it worse!"

"Make it worse? So we're supposed to just surrender?"

The conference room was a mess. The workers split into two sides, yelling in each other's faces.

"Enough!"

An angry roar interrupted the argument in the room.

The president slammed the report on the table and looked around the conference room. He then looked at his Chief of Staff and spoke.

"Kevin, I want to hear your opinion."

Kevin went silent for a while.

"… Their military exercise is not necessarily directed at us.

"According to the CIA, this exercise might be for Professor Lu's visit to St. Petersburg in August. It's for them to respond as quickly as possible in an event of an unlikely scenario."

The Secretary of Defense frowned.

"He's visiting Russia?"

Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, apparently, he's attending the ICM conference."

Secretary of Defense: "…"

Pentagon officials: "…"

Even though they knew how important Professor Lu was to the Chinese government, they couldn't believe that the Chinese were willing to provide military support for a scholar attending a conference…

They had no idea what to say.

Kevin looked at the president and spoke.

"According to the CIA's report, this is a good opportunity to get rid of any tension between the two countries… My suggestion is to stay cautious before we find out more about their intentions."

"I know this," the President said impatiently. He noticed that everyone was looking at him, so he spoke.

"Of course, just in case, I'll call the CIA director."

Half of the people in the conference room were relieved.

Even though Kevin was relieved, he didn't show any emotion.

Ever since the Cold War, America had been a super country. But now, they were the ones who were worried about other countries.

Kevin smiled bitterly and nodded.

"That would be wise…"

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Chapter 1001 State Scholar

Beijing.

Inside a faculty apartment at Yan University, two old men were sitting in the living room, drinking tea while chatting.

Because they were both academician level mathematicians, their conversation was naturally about mathematics.

The IMO competition recently came to an end. Academician Xiang Huanan began to talk about China's performance with a smile on his face.

"First prize in group competition, 5 gold medals, and a silver. Someone even got full marks. Academician Wang, your team did quite well!"

Academician Wang Shicheng smiled and waved his hand.

"Pft, it has nothing to do with me, Professor Yang is more involved with the competition. I went to a couple of training, but I didn't really help too much. Also, it's also mainly due to the students' abilities, they're all talented in mathematics research. The mathematics center is just a venue for them to learn."

Even though the old man tried to not take any credit, it was obvious he was still quite proud of how the students did.

At his age, it was impossible for him to produce any mathematics achievements. Ever since he retired as the chairman of the China Mathematics Society, he hadn't conducted any mathematics research.

Yang Yongan was the teacher that led the IMO competition and one of Wang Shicheng's proudest students.

Thus, Wang Shicheng was obviously pleased that his student was able to lead the Chinese mathematics Olympic team to success.

When you reached a certain age, money and materialistic things wouldn't matter anymore. Leaving a legacy behind was more rewarding than anything else.

"You're too humble. They are talented, but cultivating them is still important, right?" Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "But honestly, it's getting harder and harder to win. 5 gold medals aren't bad at all."

"Yeah." Wang Shicheng nodded and said, "The environment now is totally different. Education of the basic sciences is supported by the state and society. Things are a lot more competitive. I'm happy we were able to achieve this result."

Basic scientific education didn't directly affect a country's scientific research abilities, but any country with a strong scientific research background also needed strong fundamentals.

Especially when it came to mathematics.

Knowledge wasn't shared through books or hard disks; it was shared by people.

"You're right." Xiang Huanan sighed and said, "Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Professor Lu. He has inspired thousands of people to enter this field. I've been to many elementary schools and kindergartens, and when I ask the kids why they want to be a scientist, they all say Professor Lu—"

"Pff!"

Wang Shicheng suddenly spat out a mouthful of tea. Xiang Huanan paused for a second and quickly handed him some tissue.

"What happened? Did you choke? You should be careful, we're getting old now."

"…"

Wang Shicheng's face turned red, he wanted to say something, but his throat was still hurting.

This old b*stard!

Just a second ago you were praising Yan University, now you're kissing Academician Lu's as*…

Wang Shicheng patted his chest for a while and tried to catch his breath. He wiped his mouth with a tissue and spoke while panting.

"Nothing, go on."

Xiang Huanan looked at this old man and felt something was strange.

He shook his head and was about to continue speaking, but he suddenly rubbed his head awkwardly and said, "Wait a second, what was I talking about?"

Wang Shicheng: "Never mind, it doesn't matter."

"Fine, it wasn't important anyway. Damn, my memory!" Xiang Huanan then said, "Speaking of which, I nearly forgot something. There was a kid that got full marks, right? What is his name?"

Wang Shicheng: "Li Mo."

"Li Mo? Interesting name." Xiang Huanan smiled and said, "Looks like he's going to get a lot of training at Yan University."

Wang Shicheng's eyebrows twitched.

"He didn't apply to Yan University…"

F*ck sake!

Can't you talk about something else?!

Did this old man come here just to piss me off?

Xiang Huanan didn't expect this kid to refuse Yan University's invitation.

"He didn't apply? No way? Did he… go to Shuimu?"

Wang Shicheng snapped, "Jinling!"

His worst regret was letting Professor Lu visit the mathematics center at Yan University. Not only did Professor Lu poach away Chen Yang, but he also poached an IMU gold medalist!

Screw this!

Screw that Lu Zhou kid!

Xiang Huanan nodded. He rubbed his beard and spoke.

"Jinling… Jinling is pretty good, Professor Lu is there. Anything is better than going to a temple and praying all day."

Back in the 2006 IMO, student Liu from China and Schultz from Germany both won gold medals with perfect scores. However, one of them was now a Fields Medal-winning scholar, one of the most likely scholars to surpass Faltings. The other was drawn to Buddhism, never to be seen or heard again.

Whenever Xiang Huanan thought about it, he couldn't help but feel agonized.

Xiang Huanan had met the young kid before; he had even argued with Wang Shicheng about the kid, claiming that Yan University ruined a good talent.

While the two men were thinking about separate things, it was time for a noon repast.

As usual, Wang Shicheng turned on the news channel while he ate.

The international news began showing precisely at 12 o'clock.

The news anchor sitting in the studio began with some opening remarks, and soon, the anchor talked about today's first international news story.

And this story was obviously about the anti-terrorism military training "exercise".

Wang Shicheng, who was sitting at the dining table, looked at the scene on the television, watching the airborne capsule falling from the sky. He had a look of comfort in his eyes, but he soon sighed with melancholy.

"I can no longer keep up with the times. When I heard about the aerospace forces on television, I had no idea what it was. But now, in less than two years, they were able to conduct a real-life exercise drill in space."

"That's what happens when you get older," Xiang Huanan said. He looked at the television and suddenly remembered something, and he said, "Speaking of which, I heard a rumor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

Wang Shicheng: "What rumor?"

Xiang Huanan: "Apparently, this exercise drill was for Academician Lu's visit to Russia for the ICM conference… But I think this rumor is quite unreliable. Qian Xuesen also traveled internationally back in the day, and the international tensions back then were way worse. He didn't receive this kind of treatment. I just feel like this is unnecessary."

Academician Lu again…

Today was the third time Wang Shicheng heard this annoying name.

However, this time, he didn't react at all; he didn't even comment on this matter.

After a moment of silence, the old man spoke.

"Never has there ever been a scholar that has received such treatment…"

Not to mention that Lu Zhou wasn't a scientist, he was a mathematician.

Even though Wang Shicheng hated this person, he still acknowledged that Lu Zhou deserved this kind of reception.

"It's just a rumor, take it with a grain of salt. But this kid is quite nutty. It's a shame he didn't come to the Chinese Academy of Sciences!" Xiang Huanan said as he looked at Wang Shicheng, "Speaking of which, I'm sure you're invited to this year's ICM. You didn't go to the one in Brazil, are you going this time?"

It would be a shame if someone missed the opportunity to attend the ICM.

It only happened once every four years; no one knew how many opportunities this old man would have.

But if I go, I would have to see that imperious face…

Wang Shicheng hesitated for a second before clenching his jaw and nodding.

"I'm going! I have an invitation, why shouldn't I go?"

Even though he detested that Lu Zhou guy.

But having the opportunity to witness China's mathematics community flourish on the international stage…

That… would put a smile on my face.

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Chapter 1002 Turn to the Dark Side

China informed the international community about the military drill, long before the anti-terrorism exercise mission began.

However, most people heard about the aerospace forces "special exercise drill" the day after the exercise drill was finished.

In addition to letting the airborne troops test the newly installed "Thunder" airborne module, the other mission objective was to deter and scare enemies.

In order to fully portray the "jump of the century" on camera, CTV news reporters responsible for covering the story made great efforts to capture every moment.

Not only did they use cinematic shooting techniques and editing, but they also captured various angles of the airborne capsule breaking through the atmosphere by placing cameras inside the capsule.

Unsurprisingly, the results were quite amazing.

The news anchor made a brief introduction, followed by a half-minute video of the launch process, capturing everyone's attention.

As the video showed the airborne capsule being "released" from outer space, then breaking through the atmosphere, people's eyes were glued to their televisions.

There was no need for any special effects.

It looked like someone out of a blockbuster movie!

The close-up shots of the airborne capsule hitting the ground, as well as the airborne soldiers appearing out of the cloud of smoke, was like the climax of a movie!

Because of this, halfway through the broadcast, the discussions already began flooding in on the Internet.

[What the f*ck! Outer space soldiers? When did the aerospace forces get this nutty?!]

[I'm shook! Is this really a real-life exercise? It's not a movie? I gotta go smoke a cigarette and calm down.]

[Our future is in the stars!!!]

[This is something out of a Mission Impossible movie!]

[I'm guessing Amazon is thinking about how to use this technology for world-wide delivery in under an hour!]

[Looks like NASA is going to go crazy, they've stayed quiet all day. It's like the aerospace stock market was hit with a tornado.]

No one knew that the Air Force Equipment Department had this kind of technology up their sleeves.

Global deployment in under an hour.

Airborne at an altitude of 110 kilometers.

Until a few hours ago, this sounded like a ridiculous concept, something out of a science fiction movie.

Even after seeing the video with their own eyes, some people still couldn't believe this was real.

Their common sense told them that this was just a "commercial" for the next upcoming science-fiction blockbuster…

It made sense that they felt this way.

The editing done on the video didn't look like a news story at all; it looked like a movie clip.

If they added some background music, the clip could totally be used as an advertisement for the aerospace forces.

Speaking of which, some people downloaded the video, added some background music, and uploaded it to YouTube. It received millions of views within a day.

Some foreigners asked in the comments section which movie the clip was from.

This video traveled from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter, until people finally realized that this wasn't a movie at all…

In addition to the half-minute video featuring the 20 orbital paratrooper soldiers, the CTV reporters also recorded B-roll footage of the "Thunderbird aerospaceplane", as well as the "Great Wall" space carrier.

The "Thunder" capsule descending from the sky deterred people with bad intentions.

On the other hand, it also destroyed many conspiracies.

If China had a team of soldiers that could arrive at any location on Earth within an hour, no one would have enough time to react…

Thus, when faced with such an opponent, there were many things that had to be reconsidered…

…

Time quickly flew by.

It was already mid-July.

After the exercise mission ended, Lu Zhou left the training base and went back home. He dedicated almost all of his time to researching Riemann's hypothesis.

Even though no one was pressuring him to create any breakthroughs, the closer it got to August, the more Lu Zhou felt like he was approaching a deadline.

This never happened to him before.

Even though he had made significant progress, he was still stuck in the same spot.

He sat in his study room and downloaded the latest research from the analytic number theory section on arXiv. He closed his browser and was about to begin today's research.

However, a text bubble appeared on the lower right corner of his screen.

Xiao Ai: [Master, you have mail! (゚゚)]

Lu Zhou: "Open it for me… Also, bring a cup of coffee to the study room."

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

It seemed like Xiao Ai had an infinite amount of energy.

Lu Zhou smiled at the message and could feel his mood going up.

His eyes turned toward the screen, and he recognized the email address. It was the high school student he met at the Yan University mathematics center.

Speaking of which, it was already mid-July. Even though Lu Zhou didn't pay close attention to the competition, he still heard that the competition had ended.

Li Mo: [Sir! I got a gold medal, you promised me, I'm your student now!]

Gold medal?

This kid's not bad.

Lu Zhou remembered he only casually made the promise to make the kid go away; he didn't expect the kid to actually win a gold medal.

I don't really like his arrogant attitude, but anyone that wins an IMO gold medal is worth cultivating.

Lu Zhou pondered for a second and wrote a reply.

[Apply to Jin Ling University.]

He finished typing and clicked send.

Lu Zhou was about to close his email when he saw another email appear in his mailbox.

[Okay, teacher! Oh yeah, what books should I read for the summer? I plan on preparing for university classes.]

Lu Zhou: "…"

Even though Lu Zhou didn't want to reply, he still sent a reply.

[Just go twiddle your thumbs.]

Li Mo: [… ???]

Lu Zhou sighed and typed another reply.

[Take your time and enjoy yourself. These two months are going to be the best days of your life. You'll have plenty of time to read books once you are in university. Do something out of your element, go traveling or something.]

The same thing happened to Lu Zhou.

Ever since he entered university campus, it was like his life did a 180-degree change; he hadn't truly taken a break in years.

Of course, Lu Zhou loved what he was doing, research was his favorite thing to do.

However, occasionally, he would feel nostalgic about his carefree days.

Li Mo: [Okay, teacher! I don't understand why, but I'll listen to your advice!]

Lu Zhou nodded his head with approval.

Not bad, a bit cocky, but at least he's obedient.

He was about to close his email and get back to research when he suddenly remembered something important. Thus, he sent another email.

[Oh yeah, try not to visit spiritual and religious countries.]

Li Mo: [Why?]

Lu Zhou: [You might turn to the dark side and leave mathematics.]

Li Mo: […?]

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Chapter 1003 What Has to Come Will Come

What has to come will come.

The last day of July.

Even though every pore in Lu Zhou's body was yelling no, he still stopped his research and began packing as he prepared for the International Congress of Mathematicians at St. Petersburg.

As for the 60-minute report, after some thinking, he finally decided on making a brief summary regarding his work on the Riemann zeta function over the past few years and uploaded the thesis to the International Congress of Mathematicians website.

In fact, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Whether it was a 45-minute report or a 60-minute report, these conference reports weren't held specifically for ground-breaking results. It was more to give scholars a platform to present the progress they had made over the past couple of years.

After all, for most areas of mathematics, especially number theory, it was nearly impossible to consistently produce ground-breaking research.

It was naive to think that hard work and discipline guaranteed good research.

"Xiao Ai, should I bring a jacket?"

It was still summer in Jinling. Lu Zhou even felt hot wearing a t-shirt, but he heard St. Petersburg was starting to get cold.

The drone dangling next to Lu Zhou began to display a string of text on its screen.

Xiao Ai: [St. Petersburg is located at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, situated at 59 N. The temperature during August is between 13 and 20 Celsius. Even though it is not too cold, I recommend Master bringing a windbreaker of a leather jacket. (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

"Oh, I see… I'll bring this trench coat then."

Lu Zhou looked at his fully packed suitcase and contemplated for a second. He then pulled out a couple of t-shirts from his suitcase and stuffed in a black trench coat.

He still remembered wearing this coat when he received an award in Berlin.

That was a long time ago; he didn't expect this coat to still fit him so well.

Lu Zhou sighed and felt a little emotional.

I guess the saying that "whoever proves the Riemann hypothesis will be immortal" is true.

He had already proven a weaker form of Riemann's hypothesis, the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. Logically speaking, that should make him at least a half-immortal.

While Lu Zhou was day-dreaming, the small display floating next to him began to flash.

Xiao Ai: [Master, video call request, the IP address is from North America. ~(•̀•́)]

Is it Xiao Tong?

Or Vera?

Without asking who the video call was from, Lu Zhou said, "Pick up the call."

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

The drone screen began to display a video call interface.

Lu Zhou instantly recognized the person on the screen. He was slightly surprised.

"Wei Wen?"

"Professor…"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Why did you suddenly decide to call me?"

"I have some things I want to ask about…" Wei Wen awkwardly said. He noticed Lu Zhou's half-packed suitcase, so he curiously asked, "Are you going to the ICM in St. Petersburg?"

"Yeah, I have to do an hour report there… Speaking of which, how have you been? Qin Yue said you're a lecturer at the MIT materials science department, do you like it there?"

For some reason, Wei Wen suddenly looked a little distraught.

He sighed and shook his head.

"It's not going well, can we not talk about it… I'm about to be unemployed."

Unemployed?

Lu Zhou stood up and looked at Wei Wen through the small display. He frowned and asked, "What's going on? Are you… in trouble?"

Lu Zhou had the impression that Wei Wen was quite a talented guy, with outstanding mathematical modeling abilities. Ever since Wei Wen transferred to the computational materials science field, he had been totally killing it. Apparently, he had already published three papers in major journals.

Lu Zhou had no idea why MIT would want to get rid of such an excellent scholar.

Not to mention, he was Lu Zhou's ex-student…

There's no way he's on the verge of unemployment, right?

Wei Wen knew that Lu Zhou was confused, so he asked, "Are you on a retreat again?"

Lu Zhou said, "Sort of… Why?"

"Nothing, there's something going on right now…" Wei Wen sighed and said, "I'm not the only one in trouble, all of the Chinese scholars at MIT are not having a good time…"

Wei Wen spent five minutes giving Lu Zhou a brief explanation.

Apparently, at the beginning of July, the White House suddenly issued a special bill signed by the president, which requested the embassy to tighten the visa restrictions.

On the surface, it would seem like an MIT mathematics professor would be unaffected.

However, after the bill was signed, MIT, Stanford, and other major universities suddenly changed their attitude toward Chinese lecturers and professors. Not only did they reduce their scientific funding, but they also reduced their lecture hours.

Even scholars that had worked in the United States for decades but hadn't gotten citizenship were severely affected.

Apparently, the reason this happened was that someone from the FBI interviewed the board of directors of major universities. Even though they hadn't been fired yet, these rumors made the professors and lecturers feel uneasy.

"Actually, I saw some signs two years ago, but I didn't expect it to come to this."

Lu Zhou said, "What do you mean?"

Wei Wen sighed and said, "The MIT global admission standards are based on academic ability, personality traits, and diversity. But there haven't been any Chinese students admitted in the past two years. In fact, the universities have been mistreating us since a long time ago."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That seems unusual."

Even though there was no explicit rule prohibiting Chinese students, over the past two years, there hadn't been a single Chinese student that was admitted to Stanford or MIT. The few Chinese students that were admitted, were born in America.

And it seemed like MIT had exacerbated this problem.

"The academic environment is becoming more and more unfriendly. It wasn't like this a decade ago. A while ago, I was talking with a Chinese materials science professor about this. China's achievements in nuclear fusion and aerospace have triggered the Americans.

"Especially after the Ares program disaster last year, the Americans were in shambles. I can even feel the students being discriminatory toward me when I give lectures."

Wei Wen sounded hurt.

"Now, there are rumors in the academic community that Congress is going to issue a stricter bill, so everyone's feeling anxious. I don't know how long I can stay here, I might even get fired tomorrow."

Lu Zhou: "You're a mathematics researcher, are you also affected by this?"

"I mean, my research isn't pure mathematics. I work with the materials science laboratory. Someone even suspected I was a Chinese spy." Wei Wen shook his head and said, "What kind of spy helps them clean experimental data and do research… Sigh, if it weren't for my in-progress research, I would want to quit myself."

Lu Zhou went silent for a while. He then said, "You can always come back to Jinling. The academic environment is pretty good. What's your salary like? I promise to match it."

Before video calling Lu Zhou, Wei Wen had seriously considered going back to China.

However, for some reason, after he heard Lu Zhou's offer, he began to hesitate.

After a couple of seconds, he clenched his jaw and spoke.

"Thanks…

"But I want to produce some good research first, at least get into the Thousand Talents Plan."

Even though he was being closely monitored in America, which would make it difficult for him to produce any research results, he still didn't want to give up this easily.

After all, if he came back to China having achieved nothing at all…

He would feel a little regretful.

Lu Zhou was worried about his student, but he knew why Wei Wen was doing this. He nodded and spoke.

"Then you have to be careful, you're all the way across the Pacific Ocean. If you get into trouble, it's hard for me to help you."

Wei Wen nodded and said, "Thank you!"

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Chapter 1004 Iron Curtain Is Falling

After ending the call, Lu Zhou continued to pack his suitcase. However, this time, the small display floating next to him began to flash.

Xiao Ai: [Master, when you were video calling just now, it seemed like someone was spying on you guys. ( ́‸')]

Lu Zhou: [… Spying?]

Xiao Ai: [Yes! When the video call data was transmitted to North America, it was received by more than one IP address. Xiao Ai sent a series of encrypted data to the IP and received a response just now. There was more than one person listening in on the call.]

Does this mean we were spied on?

"Oh, I see…"

Even though Lu Zhou had expected something like this to happen, he still felt a little shocked.

A few years ago, when he was back at Princeton, the academic environment was totally different. He didn't expect it to deteriorate so quickly.

It seemed like it was a smart choice for him to return to China.

Staying in Princeton for another year could have meant trouble for him, especially with the FBI.

Xiao Ai: [Xiao Ai has found the intruder, should Xiao Ai install a backdoor?]

Lu Zhou immediately said, "No it's fine, it's not something we should worry about."

Hacking a server was easy.

However, hacking into an American server would be risky.

If the other party found out that something fishy was installed on their computer, Lu Zhou would be fine, but his students wouldn't have a good time.

Even though Lu Zhou was confident in his information technology abilities, when it came to hacking and cybersecurity, the FBI and CIA were kings.

Even Xiao Ai wouldn't be able to fight against them.

There was no upside to hacking the server, it would be risk without reward.

Lu Zhou thought about Wei Wen's situation and went silent for a while. He took out his phone and called Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense, giving him a brief explanation of the situation.

For the scholars in America, this was a disaster.

However, this could benefit China.

If they could formulate some kind of attractive policy for talent attraction, they could seize on this opportunity. There had to be a ton of Chinese scholars who were willing to return to China.

It seemed like Wei Wen was describing McCarthyism on the rise, and that the freedom of academics was being challenged…

Lu Zhou felt powerless.

…

Early August.

On a flight from Beijing to Russia.

Lu Zhou boarded the plane and watched Wang Peng put his luggage in the storage. He happened to bump into quite a special individual.

This individual was also sitting in the first class.

The two made eye contact.

At last, Lu Zhou spoke first with a friendly smile.

"What a coincidence."

It was like Wang Shicheng had just snapped back to reality, his mouth twitched as he quickly smiled.

"… Oh yeah, what a coincidence… Hahaha."

What are the odds!

Not only are we on the same flight, but our seats are right next to each other!

How did I not see him when I was boarding?

If he noticed that Lu Zhou was also on this flight, he would have refunded his ticket and went on another flight instead!

It was too late to change seats. Wang Shicheng hesitated for a bit before sitting down next to Lu Zhou.

Under the guidance of the flight attendant, he buckled up his seat belt and closed his eyes, waiting for the plane to take off.

He thought he could sleep peacefully through this flight, but Lu Zhou took the initiative and spoke to him.

"Academician Wang, you're also going to St. Petersburg for the conference?"

"Yeah," Wang Shicheng said. He didn't really want to converse, but he couldn't help but say, "The IMU asked me to do a 45-minute report, so I decided to go."

Wang Shicheng was far beyond the prime age of mathematics research, so it was quite impressive for the International Mathematical Union to still invite him to give a report.

This shows that the international mathematics community hadn't forgotten his research contributions. This delighted the old man.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Oh, I see, congratulations."

Wang Shicheng looked at Lu Zhou's face and felt annoyed.

What a fake person!

We all know you're doing a 60-minute report!

You just want to humblebrag, right?

Haha, I'm not giving you the chance!

Hence, Wang Shicheng purposefully ignored asking what Lu Zhou was doing at the ICM. He smiled and began to change the subject.

"How about you? How's your research on Riemann's hypothesis going?"

Lu Zhou looked a little sorrowful.

"It's a bit unfortunate, it hasn't been going well."

It really was unfortunate.

He had been busy all year, and he barely had any time to work on Riemann's hypothesis. If he had spent all his time researching Riemann's hypothesis instead, he might have been able to produce some beautiful theorems.

However, Lu Zhou's words were like music to Academician Wang's ears.

Haha!

Sucks to be you.

Even though there was nothing embarrassing about not being able to prove Riemann's hypothesis, Lu Zhou boasted about not doing the sixty-minute report if he didn't solve Riemann's hypothesis.

I look forward to your report.

Wang Shicheng pretended to be surprised as he spoke.

"Oh, really? I heard you say that you wouldn't do the report at St. Petersburg unless you made some outstanding results. I thought you might have solved Riemann's hypothesis already… I guess you didn't… That's just unfortunate."

Wang Shicheng was clearly trying to be passive aggressive.

However, he did too good of an acting job. Lu Zhou wasn't offended at all.

Lu Zhou sighed and said, "Yeah, it is unfortunate… I didn't plan on coming, but I couldn't refuse."

"… Why not?"

For some reason, Wang Shicheng had a bad feeling about this.

As expected, Lu Zhou had a cheeky smile on his face.

This smile…

Was way too familiar to him.

"Yeah," Lu Zhou awkwardly scratched his head and said, "they want to… give me an award."

Wang Shicheng: "…"

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Chapter 1005 Taken Advantage Of?

After nearly ten hours of flying, the plane landed smoothly at the St. Petersburg airport. The passengers began to unbuckle their seat belts, ready to get off the plane.

Yang Yongan dragged his suitcase as he watched Lu Zhou walk away. He looked at his supervisor and carefully asked.

"Teacher, are you… not friends with Academician Lu?"

He noticed something back in Beijing. The look on Academician Wang's face confirmed his speculations.

Because of this, he didn't dare to get close to Lu Zhou, in fear of angering his supervisor.

After all, he was from Yan University. Even though he had a good relationship with Academician Lu, as a scholar of Yan University, it was better for him to please his supervisor instead.

Even though throughout that flight Wang Shicheng wanted to throw Lu Zhou off the plane, he still tried to deny everything.

"No, of course not! Who told you that? Don't say that."

Yang Yongan: "…"

Jesus, judging from his tone, it sounds like he's lying!

Wang Shicheng looked at Yang Yongan silently for a second before he sighed and spoke in a warm tone, "There are some things you don't have to worry about. I'm not particularly fond of him, but you guys are both millennials. You should try to form a good relationship with him, it'll help you in the future."

There was nothing else Academician Wang wanted to say.

Yang Yongan felt relieved.

Of course, he didn't show it on the surface. He had a look of understanding on his face as he nodded.

"I understand, teacher."

Prior to this, he worried that his teacher, and even the entire Yan University, had disliked Academician Lu. He worried that if he had tried to be friends with Academician Lu, it would stab him in the back.

However, it seemed like that wasn't the case at all.

His supervisor only disliked Academician Lu on a personal level, he didn't bring his personal matters into work.

What Yang Yongan didn't know was that his supervisor actually despised Academician Lu. However, due to various reasons, his supervisor had to bow down to Academician Lu.

After all, Lu Zhou's influence went far beyond mathematics and academia; it was at the national or even international level.

For scholars like him, who had gone far beyond the academic field, there was no such thing as belonging to a school of thought.

When it came to him…

He was his own school of thought.

…

Fortunately, Wang Shicheng didn't exit the airport with Lu Zhou, otherwise, he would be in a wave of embarrassment.

In fact, when Lu Zhou exited the airport with Wang Peng, he himself was even shocked.

Outside the airport, more than a dozen black cars were parked on the curbside. A familiar-looking Russian guy took off his sunglasses and came forward with his arms wide open. He had a friendly smile on his face as he hugged Lu Zhou.

"Haha, welcome my friend, Academician Lu! Welcome to Russia! Do you still remember me?"

Lu Zhou shook his hand after breaking away from the hug and smiled.

"Hello, Mr. Georgiev… That's quite an enthusiastic greeting."

"I told you, if you ever come to visit Moscow, I will give you the most magnificent welcoming ceremony… This is St. Petersburg, but it's close enough." Georgiev smiled and said, "This is my daughter, Victoria, I believe you've met before. This is the Department of Energy—"

"We have met before as well," Minister Novak said as he extended his right hand. "Welcome."

With two ministerial officials greeting him, Lu Zhou felt a little embarrassed.

"You guys are too kind."

"This is nothing. Like Mr. Georgiev had said, if you ever get the opportunity to visit Russia, we will pick you up at the airport in person."

Minister Novak looked at a powerful man in a black suit and said, "Please allow me to introduce you to Maksim from the Federal Security Service, he will be responsible for your safety in Russia."

The agent named Maksim was quite a taciturn guy, and he spoke concisely, "Hello, Professor Lu. Alpha team has already been stationed in St. Petersburg. Our security team will be responsible for the safety of the ICM conference. We will guarantee the highest safety standard for your academic activities here. If you encounter any security issues, please contact me via this phone."

Lu Zhou took the retro-style flip phone and handed it to Wang Peng. He then smiled and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Lu Zhou could tell that the Russian security department was meticulously handling the safety of his visit.

After all, Russia wouldn't want anything to happen to him during his visit.

It would affect their diplomatic relations and many other interests.

After making some small talk with Novak from the Department of Energy, Lu Zhou spoke with Novak about his schedule over the next two days.

"… We will send you to the hotel, and tomorrow morning the team will arrive at the hotel entrance at eight o'clock on the dot… Of course, you can leave anytime you want, preferably before noon."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Don't worry, I don't sleep in, I'll arrive on time."

Minister Novak smiled and said, "Then I hope you have a good time here."

Before his visit, Russia officials invited him through diplomatic channels to visit the nuclear fusion power station that was under construction in St. Petersburg.

Therefore, in addition to attending the International Congress of Mathematicians, Lu Zhou also had another interesting visit he had to do.

However, that wouldn't take up too much time, at most half a day's worth.

Lu Zhou purposely arrived two days before the International Congress of Mathematicians as he wanted to deal with these "trivial" matters before the conference.

Lu Zhou walked to one of the cars and was about to get in. Suddenly, Victoria took half a step forward and gently pressed her hand on the car door. She smirked and looked at Lu Zhou.

"This is our second time meeting, and according to Russian culture, you should give me a hug."

Lu Zhou: "That's a thing?"

"Of course!" Victoria smiled flirtatiously and said, "Don't you want to embrace our culture?"

"…"

Lu Zhou hesitated for a bit before politely hugging Miss Victoria.

However, the passionate Russian girl had more in mind.

She gave Lu Zhou a gentle kiss on the cheek, and he instantly blushed and flinched. He awkwardly let go and got in the car.

Jesus f*ck, is that Russian culture as well?

I feel like I just got taken advantage of.

That hug felt intense.

Yeah, a bit too intense.

Wang Peng sat shotgun and Lu Zhou sat in the back with Mr. Maksim from the Federal Security Service. Even though Novak told Lu Zhou that Maksim was only a field agent, it was obvious that Maksim was at a much higher ranking than just an agent.

Maksim noticed Lu Zhou had a nervous look on his face, so he smiled and spoke.

"Don't worry, we will take care of you."

Lu Zhou forced a smile and said, "I'm not nervous, it's just that I haven't traveled in a while… I'm not used to this."

Maksim shrugged and smiled, displaying his row of white teeth, as he said, "Okay then, let's talk about something relaxing… What do you think about Miss Victoria?"

Lu Zhou: "… What do you mean?"

"Like that hug."

Lu Zhou didn't know what to say. He thought for a second and spoke in an uncertain tone.

"… Like I was struck."

Maksim smiled and spoke.

"Like struck by lightning? What a creative metaphor, oh Professor Lu, you're such an interesting person."

Lu Zhou: "…"

When the f*ck did I say lightning?

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Chapter 1006 A Lost Old Friend

After meeting Maksim, Lu Zhou felt a lot less nervous.

He realized that this guy was a pretty interesting person.

Even though Maksim was a professional, he often joked around.

The only problem was that neither of them was very good at English, so communication was a bit confusing at times.

"Are you married? Have a girlfriend?"

"No," Lu Zhou said. He felt somewhat ashamed, so he said, "It's not because I can't find anyone, it's just that I'm too busy with work, I have no time to date."

"Ok ok, what about girls in your workplace? You don't know how to flirt, right? I know how you feel." Maksim raised his eyebrows and said, "You need to find a place with pretty girls and talk with them… Do you want a recommendation? St. Petersburg has some good places."

Lu Zhou: "???"

It took an hour to drive from the St. Petersburg International Airport to the Corinthia Hotel. The buildings and statues looked historic and exotic.

However, the closer they drove to the city center, the more modern the scenery became.

All major cities around the world had similar looking CBDs; they were all concrete jungles, filled with steel trees.

However, when Lu Zhou arrived at the Corinthia Hotel entrance, he was amazed by the Russian palace-style design of the hotel.

This was completely different from the conference in Brazil.

This conference was sponsored by the local government and Russian authorities, thus the attendees were situated at a scenic five-star hotel directly in the city center.

Regardless of the motive behind this, the not-so-rich mathematicians were thankful at the opportunity to stay at a luxurious hotel like this.

After Lu Zhou arrived at the hotel, his welcoming team took off. However, judging from the police standing on the streets and the security guards in the hotel, the Federal Security Service clearly strengthened the security around this hotel.

But, even though the Chinese side had a community within the Federal Security Service, Lu Zhou didn't totally trust the Russians to take care of his safety.

After Lu Zhou went into his hotel room, the first thing he did was to open his laptop and connect to the hotel's wifi.

"Xiao Ai, you're responsible for the cameras… If you see anyone suspicious, make sure to notify me."

A string of bubbles popped up on the lower right corner of the screen.

Xiao Ai: [Is it Xiao Ai's turn to help? Don't worry, Master, Xiao Ai's got this! ω]

Well, you're just an extra layer of security, it probably won't change anything.

Due to the heavy security from the Federal Security Service and the People's Liberation Army General Staff Department, no one would dare to cause any trouble.

I don't think Xiao Ai will be too useful here, but it's better to be safe…

Of course, Lu Zhou didn't say this out loud.

After all, he still cared about Xiao Ai's feelings.

Xiao Ai: [Master, Master, their elevator control system and door lock system is managed by the same server as the security camera, can Xiao Ai install a back door? ()]

Lu Zhou: "Do it, but don't do anything funny without my permission."

Xiao Ai: [Okay, Master, don't worry!]

Even though the Federal Security Service had set up layers of security defenses, they were on foreign soil. It was better to be safe than sorry.

After all this, Lu Zhou changed his clothes and left his hotel room.

Wang Peng was in the corridor waiting for him.

He saw Lu Zhou coming out of the room and asked, "You've unpacked?"

"Yeah." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Speaking of which, is it fine to trust the Russians for security?"

Wang Peng: "We're also involved in the security work, but we are on foreign soil. We can't take any initiatives, and we're mostly working behind the scene. But rest assured, your safety is our highest priority."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "I'm not that worried, just wondering… Oh yeah, is it fine for me to go outside and get some food?"

"It's fine." Wang Peng nodded and said, "Do you want me to accompany you or follow you secretly?"

Lu Zhou: "… Just stay next to me."

It wasn't like Lu Zhou was doing anything dangerous. He was just going out for a quick bite.

Asking Wang Peng to secretly watch him would be too much of a hassle.

…

It would be two days until the International Congress of Mathematicians.

Even though some people had already begun to arrive in St. Petersburg, the majority of people weren't as prepared. Most of the people at the hotel were still tourists.

Lu Zhou got out of the elevator and walked through the hotel lobby. He was about to explore some local food but bumped into a familiar person at the hotel lobby.

The person had brown curly hair and a bright smile with a boy-next-door kind of vibe… Of course, that wasn't the important part. The important part was that, this person won a Fields Medal in his thirties and was one of the three promising scholars Faltings had approved of.

Even Lu Zhou admitted that this person was more handsome than him.

They made eye contact.

They both recognized each other, and they had a surprised look on their faces.

"Lu Zhou?"

"… Schultz?" Lu Zhou said, "What a coincidence! You're already here?"

Even though they weren't close friends, they were definitely more than acquaintances.

Almost seven years ago, the two met at the Cole Number Theory Prize award ceremony. However, due to their different fields of research, they rarely communicated over the past few years.

After being surrounded by Russian bureaucrats all day, Lu Zhou was glad to have met a colleague of his.

Schultz shook Lu Zhou's right hand and said, "Haha, it is a coincidence! I thought for a big famous guy like you, you would show up after the opening ceremony. I didn't expect you to come here so early."

Lu Zhou: "The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation invited me to visit the nuclear fusion power plant before the conference. Speaking of which, you're a busy man yourself, how come you're already here?"

"I'm here to visit a long lost friend… He doesn't really like to be bothered. I probably won't have the chance to talk to him during the conference, so I came in advance," Schultz said. "Speaking of which, do you want to come with me?"

Lu Zhou hesitated and said, "It's not like I know your friend, maybe it's not the best idea."

Schultz smiled and said, "It's fine, he's a good person, even though he's a bit eccentric. He's been interested in you for a long time, so I think we'll have a good time."

Suddenly, Wang Peng, who was standing behind Lu Zhou, spoke in a serious manner.

"Can you tell me who this person is?"

Schultz raised his eyebrows.

"Perelman!

"You might have heard of him before."

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Chapter 1007 Books Are More Famous Than Theses

Main lobby of the Corinthia Hotel hotel.

Professor Fefferman handed his passport to the check-in desk. He then looked at the hotel entrance and spoke casually.

"The security here seems a bit unusual… Is there something else going on, other than the conference?"

"No, sir." The hotel staff handed the passport back to Professor Fefferman and said, "The most important conference happening this month is the International Congress of Mathematicians. The Corinthia Hotel will maintain the highest level of security during the conference, we wish you a pleasant stay."

"… Oh, I see, thanks."

Professor Fefferman put away his passport and smiled. He then looked at Professor Deligne, who was standing next to him.

"He's really here! I told you, he would never miss such an important conference!"

Professor Fefferman spoke with a tone of excitement. It was like he was watching the finals of the football world cup, and he said, "I wonder where his research is at, I'm looking forward to it!"

Professor Deligne looked at his old friend with a poker face as he sighed and spoke.

"You haven't seen his thesis on the website?"

Fefferman: "I saw it, why?"

Deligne; "Then why would you have such high expectations? If he had produced any new research, he would have published it online."

Fefferman: "My intuition tells me that he's hiding things behind the scenes."

Professor Deligne raised his eyebrows.

"So you know him very well then?"

Deligne spoke with a hint of sarcasm. It was the classic Princeton professor's ego.

However, Professor Fefferman didn't seem to care about his old friend's personality, he nodded and smiled.

"Of course, we've worked together before, I know him quite well."

Deligne heard his old friend and smiled.

"Then you're probably in over your head. I've been paying attention to all of the papers he's published this year. the Quasi Riemann hypothesis and the hyperelliptic curve analysis method are all he has been researching. He even went to research economics with that old Krugman guy, it's called the L-Z model or something.."

Normally speaking, the research area of a scholar could easily be traced by their thesis publication.

The Sullivan Conjecture in differential topology, as well as the L-Z model in economics, had nothing to do with the Riemann zeta function at all.

Professor Deligne thought that Lu Zhou probably had given up on Riemann's hypothesis.

To be honest, Deligne was quite disappointed.

He wasn't disappointed at Lu Zhou, after all, Lu Zhou had achieved quite a bit in the past year.

However, for a scholar like Lu Zhou, the only way to further extend his academic achievements was to solve the crown of mathematics, a proposition that had plagued scholars from all over the world.

Therefore, Professor Deligne felt it was unfortunate that Lu Zhou had given up after trying for so long.

If even Lu Zhou couldn't solve the conjecture, maybe no one in this century would be able to solve it…

Professor Fefferman noticed Professor Deligne's emotions, so he smiled and casually spoke.

"I think you worry too much."

Professor Deligne spoke in disbelief.

"Oh, really? Do you know what I'm worried about?"

Fefferman: "Of course I know. After all, we're old friends. You're always so confident in your analysis, but you have to admit that sometimes you get tunnel vision."

"You're saying I'm getting tunnel vision?"

"Yes, especially the way you look at problems. Have you not thought about the possibility that he might have discovered something new about the proposition? That is a possibility."

Professor Deligne said, "But it's unlikely. I've carefully studied his theses. When it comes to the mathematics side, the methods he used weren't related to the Riemann zeta function at all. There wasn't any additive or progressive relationship in his theses."

Professor Fefferman: "Maybe we're not seeing the matrix… But anyway, do you want to make a bet then?"

Professor Deligne frowned and said, "Bet on what?"

Professor Fefferman smiled confidently and said, "I bet that his research is far more than his theses, and he hasn't given up on the Riemann hypothesis.

"Otherwise…

"He wouldn't be the one doing the last hour report of the conference."

…

While the two old men were arguing on whether or not Lu Zhou was still researching Riemann's hypothesis, Lu Zhou and Schultz were sitting in a taxi, heading toward the suburbs of St. Petersburg. They happened to talk about Riemann's hypothesis.

"… You haven't made any progress over the past six months?"

"Not just six months, maybe more than that." Lu Zhou had a helpless expression on his face as he shook his head and said, "I've tried to improve on the hyperelliptic curve analysis, I also tried to use the Group Structure Method, but to no avail. I'm almost starting to think that maybe Riemann's hypothesis is true, but it can't be proved."

"You're not the only one who thinks that way, but I think you should keep your head up." Schultz patted Lu Zhou on the shoulder and said, "At least you were able to create a beautiful tool that is the hyperelliptic curve analysis and even proved the Quasi Riemann hypothesis. You did well."

"But that doesn't mean anything to me." Lu Zhou sighed and said, "I'm sure you understand what I feel."

Schultz: "No, I don't."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

After nearly a forty-minute drive, the taxi finally arrived in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The tall concrete buildings turned into historic small houses.

According to the taxi driver, this was a famous place for mathematics. The Steklov Mathematical Institute used to be here, and a famous mathematician that rejected a Fields Medal also lived nearby.

On the other hand, nearby was also where the protagonists in Dostoevsky's novel "White Night" met.

Schultz and Lu Zhou got out of the taxi in a residential area.

Most of the houses here were apartment buildings, mostly filled with young people. However, young people generally didn't like to live far out in the suburbs.

Wang Peng was walking behind Lu Zhou and Schultz when he suddenly spoke.

"… We just went in a circle."

Schultz smiled and stopped. He scratched his head and spoke.

"Actually, the last time I came here was a long time ago, and these buildings all look the same. I have no idea where I am…" Schultz awkwardly coughed and said, "I should ask someone."

Schultz went on Google and found a photo of Perelman.

This was one of the advantages of being handsome, most people were happy to help Schlutz.

As for looking like a hobo…

There were advantages as well.

Most people wouldn't disturb someone that looked homeless.

"Excuse me, do you know this person?"

The Russian girl's smile disappeared when she saw the photo in Schultz's phone. She paused for a second and spoke.

"Who is this? A terrorist? Or an artist?"

Her look of disgust made sense, after all, the man in the photo didn't exactly look like a model.

His beard was untrimmed, his hair was messy. Even though Schultz and Perelman had similar facial structures, they looked completely different.

It was like how a musician looked great with ripped clothing, but a hobo did not.

Schultz sighed and said, "My apologies, I'll ask someone else."

The Russian lady smiled and said, "Well, good luck, but I think you should give up. I've lived here for two years, and I've never seen such a person."

After asking around, no one was able to recognize Perelman.

Occasionally some people had heard of the mathematician, but none of them knew that the mathematician lived in their neighborhood.

There was no doubt that Perelman lived here.

Lu Zhou began to doubt if Perelman had relocated. Finally, an old man recognized the photo. He rubbed his chin and spoke.

"I know him, he used to work at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, he's a famous mathematician…"

Lu Zhou immediately asked, "When was that?"

The old man said, "Around ten years ago, I was still a security guard at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. I used to see him going to work in baggy jeans and a shirt. He's one of the weirdest guys at the institute."

Lu Zhou: "…"

Ten years ago…

I was still in high school back then.

That was a long time ago.

Schultz asked, "Do you know where he lives?"

"If he hasn't moved out yet, then he probably lives over there," the old man said as he pointed. He said, "I only know which building, but I don't know which specific apartment. You should ask his neighbors."

Lu Zhou and Schultz sighed.

"Thanks for helping us!"

After that, Schultz, Lu Zhou, and Wang Peng walked toward the building.

They soon arrived at the apartment building. Lu Zhou and Schultz happened to see two people standing at the apartment building entrance.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhou recognized one of them.

It was Professor Krugman, the professor he met in Shanghai…

The two obviously didn't recognize them. They were standing in front of the apartment building entrance, chatting with one another.

"I wonder if we're at the right place," Albert muttered. "Does this look correct?"

"It's correct, the Secretary-General of the ICM sent me this address," Krugman said as he looked at the letter in his hand. He said, "We're at the right place."

Albert asked, "But what if he doesn't open the door for us? If he doesn't answer the door, we won't even know if it's him."

Krugman: "You don't know him. Even though he looks unapproachable, as long as you ask him mathematics questions, he will patiently answer you."

Albert said, "You've interacted with him before?"

"No, but I know a beautiful woman who used to work at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics. She told me that," Krugman said. "Listen, my friend, we can't be discouraged. We need this."

Albert sighed and said, "Actually, I'm more inclined on working with Professor Lu. His Lu-Bewley model and L-Z model are works of art. His analysis of macroeconomics is exactly my area of research!"

"Forget about it. I would want to work with Faltings if I could, but do you think that's going to happen? I met Lu Zhou at the beginning of the year, and he's more stubborn than some of those old folks in Princeton, not to mention—"

While Krugman was complaining to his friend, he heard a familiar voice.

"Did someone mention my name?"

The two people chatting were startled.

Especially Krugman, it was like he had just seen a ghost.

"Jesus Christ, where did you come from?"

"I'm here to attend the ICM." Lu Zhou looked at Schultz and said, "This guy invited me to see his old friend, so I came along."

Krugman looked at Schultz and didn't recognize him. He frowned and spoke.

"You are…"

"Schultz," Schultz said as he reached out his hand. He smiled and said, "Nice to meet you too."

"… Krugman, Princeton economics professor. This is Albert László Barabási, a physicist whose books are more famous than his theses."

"Wait a second, what does that suppose to mean? Old man, don't—"

Professor Krugman ignored Albert and looked at Schultz as he said, "You know Perelman?"

Schultz shrugged and said, "I think we're friends, but… I don't know if he agrees."

"What are you guys doing here? Partying?"

The sudden voice interrupted Schultz.

A tall man in jeans and a shirt was walking on the sidewalk. He was carrying plastic bags full of groceries.

His unkempt appearance made him blend into the environment.

Professor Krugman immediately smiled and extended his hand.

"Hello, Professor Perelman… I am Professor Krugman, we spoke through email."

"I'm not a professor anymore," Perelman muttered and suddenly his eyes fixated on Lu Zhou.

After a while, he spoke.

"You're Lu Zhou?"

"I am indeed." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Perelman wanted to shake hands with him, but he was carrying groceries.

"… Let's talk inside, you guys are blocking the entrance."

Before Schultz and Lu Zhou could speak, Krugman quickly spoke.

"Sure thing, I think we should head inside."

Perelman ignored Professor Krugman and stared at Wang Peng for a while.

"You don't look like a scholar."

He didn't sound welcoming.

Wang Peng nodded and briefly explained his role. However, he was interrupted by Lu Zhou.

"Just wait here, we'll come down soon."

Wang Peng hesitated for a bit before he looked at Perelman and nodded.

"Okay.

"Remember to call me if anything happens."

By call, he obviously didn't mean dialing a phone number. He meant for Lu Zhou to activate the alarm trigger on his mobile phone.

Lu Zhou looked at Wang Peng and patted his shoulder.

"It's fine.

"We'll be down in a jiff."

After that, the group of people went upstairs, leaving Wang Peng behind.

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Chapter 1008 Predicting the Future?

Perelman's apartment was right in front of the building stairs.

"The apartment is a bit messy."

Perelman put down his groceries and took out his keys.

Even though Lu Zhou was mentally prepared, after the door opened, he was still surprised by the situation.

All kinds of clothes and daily necessities were thrown on the sofa, while garbage and leftover food were scattered around the apartment.

Lu Zhou also had the habit of leaving clothes around the house, but fortunately, Xiao Ai would usually take care of it.

It was obvious…

That Perelman, who devoted his life to mathematics, didn't care about anything else.

No wonder people called him an eccentric scholar.

Albert was walking next to Lu Zhou, and he quietly muttered, "I thought mathematicians were rigorous people."

Lu Zhou didn't know what to respond.

Schultz awkwardly explained.

"Normally we are… but there are exceptions. Some people don't care about their surroundings, they would rather spend time on mathematics.

"I'm jealous of those people, but that kind of lifestyle isn't for me. Ever since I embarked on the journey of mathematics, most of my time has been wasted on meaningless chores…"

Perelman put away his groceries and said, "Do you guys want something to drink? I only have water and tea, but I can go out and buy something."

Lu Zhou didn't want to bother him anymore, so he quickly spoke.

"Water is good."

Schultz nodded and said, "Same here."

Krugman and Albert also nodded, so Perelman smiled and spoke.

"Okay then."

Soon after, five disposable cups were placed on the table. Perelman took a bottle of mineral water and poured a cup for each person.

Everyone looked a bit weirded out, but Perelman didn't care. After taking a sip, he looked at Schultz and spoke.

"Why are you here? I didn't know you were coming."

Schultz: "Can't I visit my old friend?"

"I don't need anyone to visit me, I'm doing well by myself…"

Schultz was a little disappointed, but Perelman immediately began staring at Lu Zhou instead.

Perelman looked at him and spoke in a "bored yet blunt" tone.

"I've read your paper, your understanding of group theory and the complex plane is good. Especially the hyperelliptic curve analysis method… Of course, what surprised me the most was when you defined a complex algebraic cluster X on the complex project space CP(nr) when you researched the Sullivan Conjecture. I have no idea how you thought about doing that."

Topology and differential topology were both fields Perelman was interested in. On the other hand, he wasn't as interested in the Quasi Riemann hypothesis.

Even though the area of the differentiable manifold was unpopular, the Sullivan conjecture was a famous problem.

Perelman had also done some research on the Sullivan Conjecture. However, he had not been able to crack the conjecture.

As a result, he almost forgot about the conjecture, until he finally read Lu Zhou's thesis in Annual Mathematics, where Lu Zhou had proven the conjecture.

This made him astonished.

"… Oh, the Sullivan Conjecture?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "… That's thanks to the thesis published by Professor Kreck in Annual Mathematics back in 1999. His research inspired me quite a bit. Of course, it's also probably because I wasn't specifically researching this problem, so I was able to look at it from a different angle."

Back then, he was still answering Chen Yang's questions on the Hodge conjecture. If it weren't for the editor-in-chief of Annual Mathematics, he wouldn't have even known that the problem he was studying was a representation of a classic differentiable manifold problem.

Perelman and Schultz both looked surprised when they heard that Lu Zhou wasn't specifically researching differentiable manifolds.

Fortunately, they didn't know that Lu Zhou had only spent a day solving the problem; otherwise, their jaws would be on the floor.

Perelman took a sip of water and spoke.

"That's lucky, but I don't think it's entirely just luck… Okay then, did you come here to ask me any questions?"

Lu Zhou could see a flash of anticipation in his eyes, and he suddenly felt a little awkward.

Just like Schultz, he only came here because he had nothing else better to do. At least Schultz was Perelman's friend, Lu Zhou just came here with nothing in his hand.

However, telling that to Perelman's face would be a little rude.

After all, Perelman wasn't a zoo animal; he obviously didn't like people bothering him.

What do I do?

Tell him the truth?

Lu Zhou was a little worried that Perelman would be pissed off if he told Perelman the truth.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind. He thought about the problem he discussed with Chen Yang about the Hodge conjecture.

"Can I borrow some paper?"

"Sure, I have a ton."

Perelman got up and found some pens and paper.

Lu Zhou wrote down a problem on the paper and handed it to Perelman.

"… This is it."

"Let me see." Perelman took the paper and glanced at the equations. He said, "You're researching the Hodge conjecture?"

Lu Zhou said, "Sort of."

In fact, that wasn't a lie. Even though he wasn't directly researching the conjecture, someone working for him was, so he was indirectly researching it.

Fortunately, Perelman believed Lu Zhou. He nodded and muttered.

"I see, the Hodge conjecture. After I read your paper, I always felt like the theorems could be applied to other problems…"

Schultz looked at Lu Zhou with an astonished look on his face.

"… When did you begin researching the Hodge conjecture?"

Lu Zhou smiled awkwardly.

"Just a side hobby."

Schultz: "…"

Time slowly passed by, Perelman sat there still. He sat on his couch silently, immersed in his own thoughts.

Albert was getting a little anxious. He looked at the paper and saw the confusing lines of equations. He quickly gave up and sat back down.

Krugman, who was sitting next to him, didn't even try to read the equations. He sat there quietly, drinking his water.

Lu Zhou looked at the Russian man immersed in deep thought and spoke.

"… Actually, you don't have to give me a reply straight away, you can send me an email."

"… Yeah, it's not like the question can be answered within a few words," Perelman muttered. He put away the paper and said to Albert and Krugman, "What about you guys? Do you have any questions?"

Krugman sighed and cleared his throat. He solemnly said, "We're working on a big research project, but it involves many complex mathematical calculations that are beyond our abilities—"

However, he was interrupted by Albert.

This physicist stood up and spoke in a passionate voice.

"Gentleman, do you think the future can be accurately predicted?"

The small apartment suddenly became quiet.

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Chapter 1009 Suddenly Became Philosophical

"… Predict the future?"

Perelman rubbed his chin and frowned as he said, "What does this have to do with mathematics?"

Schultz nodded and looked confused as he said to Albert, "Forgive me, but that sounds like something out of a movie."

"Of course this is related to mathematics!" Albert said with excitement, "We are predicting the future using mathematics!"

The apartment fell silent again.

Krugman gestured to Albert to sit down, but Albert ignored him. Albert continued to stare at Perelman.

However…

His hopes were destroyed.

Not only Perelman, but even Schultz had a weird look on his face.

Like they were staring at an insane person…

"I think you're fantasizing."

Schultz coughed and broke the silence. He continued to speak, "Predicting the future isn't a field of mathematics, I don't even think that it's under physics. It's something related to philosophy. After all, there are so many uncertain factors and variables. Everything is uncertain. If it had rained today, maybe I wouldn't be here—"

"But the weather can be predicted! A person's path can't be predicted, but a group of people can be predicted. Just look at the forecasts for New York City's traffic and weather over the past five years!"

Albert continued to speak confidently, "Humans are no different than particles suspended in water. We are constantly moving, the only difference is that the perturbations we receive are not small atomic collisions but rather electrical signals traveling through neurons, which dictate our actions!

"There are so many tools that can track human activities, like the internet, like mobile devices… If we analyze all of the data available, we can predict far more than boring stuff like advertisement reach, we can predict ten minutes, ten days, or even ten years into the future!

"Don't you think that sounds exciting?"

Professor Krugman started to applaud.

However, he was the only one applauding…

Both Perelman and Schultz looked bewildered.

Even though Lu Zhou was also stunned, he remembered that he was discussing a similar problem with Professor Krugman back in Shanghai.

Which was the possibility of establishing a mathematical model to predict large-scale human social behavior and productivity.

"That does sound interesting," Lu Zhou said. He said, "This reminds me of Asimov's Psychohistory… Is that where you got this theory from?"

"No! My theory came from a scientific point of view… Okay, I admit that I was inspired a little from Asimov, but I'm not talking about a fantasy novel here. This is a serious academic problem!"

"Okay, let's assume that collective human behavior is predictable, but… so what?" Schultz frowned and said, "Even your behaviors, even the observation itself, will affect the experiment, it will produce unpredictable results. This is meaningless and almost impossible to achieve."

"Jesus, what's the point of researching wave-particle duality then? Don't you think predicting the future is an exciting research project? Even if we prove that it is possible to predict the future, our names will be in history books!"

Obviously, Professor Albert and Krugman came to St. Petersburg to persuade Perelman to join their research team.

First of all, only a scholar like Perelman would be able to help their project. More importantly, Perelman seemed to be the type that could be easily convinced.

The reason he solved the Poincaré conjecture was that he talked with Hamilton about the conjecture in America…

Albert became more and more excited.

Krugman tried to tell his friend to calm down but to no avail.

The result was predictable; Perelman rejected them on the spot.

Even though he didn't think they were complete idiots, Perelman said in a firm tone that he didn't find it interesting to apply mathematics to such boring things.

As for Schultz, he was determined to achieve a higher level of mathematical status. He wouldn't waste his time on side-projects. Thus, he politely declined and said he might consider it if he had time.

As for Lu Zhou…

Honestly, he was quite interested in this novel problem.

Unlike Schultz and Perelman, he loved to use mathematics to influence other disciplines and sciences.

And just like Professor Krugman had said, predicting the future was a fascinating problem.

Even though he wasn't interested in economics, nor did he care about social sciences, this problem seemed novel and unique.

But he didn't give an immediate answer.

"I need some time to think about it. I don't plan on researching any other problems until I solve Riemann's hypothesis."

After hearing this, Albert slumped his shoulders and looked deeply disappointed.

In his opinion, Lu Zhou was just politely refusing them.

"After solving Riemann's hypothesis… Jesus, you might as well just say no!"

Krugman looked a little down. He looked at Perelman and Lu Zhou, then spoke.

"Regardless, I hope you can reconsider."

Lu Zhou: "Actually, I have a question."

Krugman: "… What question?"

Lu Zhou said, "If the future really is predictable, is that a good thing?"

Krugman said, "I can't answer that, that's a question outside of academics. Just like how when Albert wrote his book 'Linked: The New Science of Networks', he didn't expect his theories to be used by Silicon Valley giants to make advertising profits…"

Albert wasn't happy.

"Hey, don't say that! Big data is not just for advertising! It has helped counter-terrorism, medical care, urban planning, and more!"

Professor Krugman ignored Albert and continued to speak, "One day, he suddenly found me and said he planned on turning this theory into a reality. My first reaction was to reject him, but in the end, I decided to work with him."

Lu Zhou asked, "Why?"

"Because whether it's theoretical research or applied research, scholars shouldn't be the one characterizing whether or not a technology is evil. Is nuclear fission technology evil? Most people in 1945 would think so, but looking back at it now, maybe having a powerful weapon keeps the world peaceful.

"So, I think we should look at this from the academic perspective. We're just studying the possibility of predicting the future, not what we should do with it.

"As for whether or not we should use this technology, our civilization will make a decision."

Professor Krugman looked at Lu Zhou sincerely. After a while, Lu Zhou nodded.

"I know what you mean.

"We can talk about this in depth in the future maybe."

Krugman nodded. Albert shrugged and said, "I look forward to that day."

Even though he was a physicist, he had heard about Riemann's hypothesis.

Other mathematical conjectures were difficult, but at least people were making progress.

Riemann's hypothesis was like a lonely mountain, with no one even coming close to climbing it.

It might even take centuries for someone to solve it…

Maybe Albert wouldn't be around by then.

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Chapter 1010 Great Plan?

Because Perelman only bought groceries for himself, the group of people didn't stay for lunch.

Before leaving, Schultz mentioned that the ICM conference was happening in St. Petersburg, but Perelman didn't respond.

Judging from Perelman's face, he didn't really care about the International Congress of Mathematicians at all.

However, before leaving, Perelman asked Lu Zhou what he planned on talking about for his conference report. When he heard that Lu Zhou was only going to talk about some of his previously published research, Perelman looked disappointed.

After leaving Perelman's house, Schultz looked up at the bright sky and sighed.

"Looks like this trip was a waste."

Lu Zhou curiously asked, "Why? Didn't you just want to see your old friend? Why was it a waste?"

"Visiting my old friend was just one of my reasons," Schultz said. "Actually, Professor Faltings asked me to come."

Lu Zhou: "Faltings?"

Schultz nodded and said, "Yeah, he wants Perelman to go to the University of Bonn and participate in a big project."

"… What kind of project?"

Schultz knew Lu Zhou would be interested. He smiled and spoke.

"If you are interested, you should pay attention to Faltings' hour-long report at the conference. He will go into detail during the report. Basically, we need an expert in topology, differential topology, and differential geometry. Perelman, who proved the Poincaré conjecture, is undoubtedly the best candidate."

Lu Zhou felt like Schultz was suggesting something.

However, he didn't know anything about this plan, so he pretended to be oblivious.

"Do you think Perelman will think about it?"

Schultz shrugged and said, "… It is worth a try."

…

Crazy ideas, big projects…

Lu Zhou felt like he heard a lot of interesting things today.

His intuition told him that this year's International Congress of Mathematicians was going to be his most exciting one yet.

Of course, he had only attended one other ICM before…

Lu Zhou found a place to eat and went back to his hotel. He parted ways with Schultz, each of them going back to their respective hotel rooms.

Lu Zhou continued to research his proof of Riemann's hypothesis until night time. He yawned and put down his pen.

"Is it ten o'clock already?"

Lu Zhou looked at his computer screen and was about to go to sleep when he suddenly remembered something important.

"Xiao Ai."

Xiao Ai: [I'm here, Master!]

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second and said, "Search up someone for me, someone called Albert László Barabási, I think he's a visiting professor at Harvard."

Xiao Ai: [Ok! (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و]

Finding someone's academic resume was easy.

Xiao Ai took less than three seconds to find Albert's academic resume and Facebook. Xiao Ai presented the data in the style of a report.

Xiao Ai was probably the best secretary in the world in terms of efficiency.

Lu Zhou finished reading the report and saw that Albert was quite an interesting guy.

Even though he was a physicist, he became famous due to his research on network theory.

Interestingly, just like Professor Krugman had said, Albert had published many theses in Nature and Science. He even created the Barabási-Albert. However, what made him famous wasn't his academic research, but rather his books…

His book "Linked: The New Science of Networks" was a cornerstone of complex network theory, and he was regarded by many as the originator of big data theory. His later book "Bursts: The Hidden Patterns Behind Everything We Do" further promoted big data theory.

If Nassim Nicholas Taleb believed that human behavior was random and unpredictable, then Albert's theory predicted that human collective behavior was like a system composed of tiny particles. Although the behavior of any given particle was uncertain, their collective behavior could be predicted!

At least with 93% accuracy.

As for why he started to work with Professor Krugman…

This didn't surprise Lu Zhou.

Krugman was interested in novel ideas. He loved to integrate mathematics and physics theories into economics.

Most people knew that he won the Nobel Prize for his international trade theory, but very few people knew that he had built models based on established physics theories. Such as "The Theory of Interstellar Trade".

Therefore, it wasn't surprising for him to work with Albert. He was exactly the type of person that would be fascinated by the proposition of "predicting the future".

However, even though Lu Zhou was interested in this problem, he didn't have any spare time to research this problem.

Regardless of what was going to happen in the future, there were two things that were going to happen with 100% certainty.

One was that the International Congress of Mathematicians was going to begin in two days, in which he had to conduct a 60-minute report.

The other was his visit to the nuclear fusion power station tomorrow morning.

This was East Asia Energy's first project in Eastern Europe; it was also the first time a nuclear core was sent overseas.

Apparently this nuclear power plant had an interesting name, which was named by the president himself.

Its name was Helios.

This name came from Greek mythology, and it was an embodiment of the sun…

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Chapter 1011 Helios

"… Four flaming horses, galloping in the fiery sky, from East to West, morning to night, illuminating the world."

Lu Zhou and Minister Novak were sitting in the backseat of the car. He looked outside the window and sighed.

"What are you talking about?"

Novak, the leader of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, smiled and spoke to Lu Zhou like a tour guide.

"Homer's Odyssey! The description of Helios… The nuclear power plant we are heading to!"

He spoke emotionally.

"The son of Helios once accidentally ignited the ground in order to bring light, turning it to a desert, burning the skins of Ethiopians. Homer probably never would have imagined humans finding a way to release the energy of a sun."

Lu Zhou: "… How come I've never heard that version of the story before?"

Minister Novak smiled and said, "That's not surprising, there are many versions of the story. If you're interested, we can chat in depth since I've done some research in this area."

Lu Zhou politely refused, "Thanks, but I'm not particularly interested in mythology."

He didn't have any time to spare outside of academia.

Especially since the ICM was soon about to begin.

"Okay, I understand, not everyone wants to become a poet…" Novak shrugged and looked outside the window. He saw a tall wall surrounding a building and said, "We're here."

The Helios nuclear power plant was located on the coast of the Baltic Sea, surrounded by a circle of towering walls. Just like the fusion power station in Helios, this power plant was guarded by Russian troops.

Lu Zhou saw three trademarks on the side of the wall, one was the Guangdong Nuclear Power Construction Group, the other was the East Asia Energy, and finally, the true owner of the power plane—Rosatom.

Rosatom controlled almost all production links of the Russian nuclear industrial chain and owned the vast majority of uranium mines in Siberia.

This was one of the reasons East Asia Energy chose to work with this company.

According to the contract between East Asia Energy and Rosatom, East Asia Energy would sell a core to Rosatom at a high price and would also send engineers to the Helios power station for 20 years of technical service.

These technical services included the maintenance and upgrade of the core control system, as well as the nuclear core safety inspections.

On the other hand, East Asia Energy would also take 13% of the profits over the 20 years.

Even though this kind of profit sharing was usual, it wasn't like there was anyone to compete against East Asia Energy.

While the European Union and America were still contemplating, the Russians were the first to sign this agreement. Because of this, they became the first overseas customer for the East Asia Energy nuclear core project.

And now, the nuclear core from China had finally arrived.

In order to welcome this historic moment of nuclear fusion ignition, the Ministry of Energy arranged the ignition date to be in early August, specifically for Lu Zhou.

In fact, they could have achieved fusion ignition a week ago if they didn't have to wait for Lu Zhou.

An old man with gray hair stood at the entrance of the Helios fusion power station. When he saw Lu Zhou get out of the car, his eyes lit up as he smiled.

"Welcome, Professor Lu! We meet again."

"Hello, Academician Sivali."

Lu Zhou shook this man's hand and smiled. He then looked at another serious-looking middle-aged man standing beside Sivali.

"And this is?"

"Lermontov," the man said. Unlike Academician Sivali, Lermontov had a serious look on his face as he said, "I'm one of the people in charge."

Lu Zhou gave a friendly nod and looked at the entrance.

Suddenly, he saw someone.

"Academician Wang? What are you doing here?"

This was Chief Engineer Wang, from the China National Nuclear Corporation!

He was one of the veterans that worked on the Haizhou fusion plant!

He, Zhou Chengfu, and Li Jiangang were the three nuclear industry giants of China.

Because Lu Zhou didn't publish engineering theses, Mr. Wang might actually have a bigger influence in the nuclear industry than Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou was astonished, he didn't expect Academician Wang to be here at all.

"After all, this is our first overseas nuclear fusion engineering project, I can't just leave it alone," Wang Zengguang smiled and said, "Let's go, the people from Rosatom have been waiting for a long time. Don't you see how impatient Lermontov is getting? Let's head inside."

The group didn't stay at the entrance for long.

Minister Novak didn't want Lu Zhou to make small talk outside.

He couldn't wait any longer for the fusion ignition.

While walking to the fusion power station control tower, Lu Zhou was told that Academician Wang arrived a week ago.

They planned on beginning fusion ignition a week ago, but it was postponed due to various reasons.

Even though this wasn't the Chinese's fault, the technicians and management of Rosatom were quite annoyed.

After all, delaying fusion ignition by a week had huge economical impacts.

It would be fine if there were safety or technical issues, but they postponed fusion ignition just to wait for a Chinese scholar.

Regardless, this day had finally come.

A group of people was standing in the command tower.

The person in charge was obviously Minister Novak, and standing next to him were senior officials of the Ministry of Energy and nuclear power technicians.

Reporters with their cameras were standing around the command room, making it even more crowded.

However, no one cared about that. Everyone's attention was on the control console as they held their breath.

They had been ready for a week now.

All they had to do was press the button!

Minister Novak tried to calm himself down as he rubbed his fingers together.

Finally, he took a deep breath and looked at the cameras, as well as the Rosatom engineers.

"This is a historic moment!

"This will bring never-ending energy to the Russians, this is a symbol of our friendship with the Chinese… May it be as endless as the sun, may we wish for eternal energy."

After that, he pressed the button.

Then…

It seemed like nothing was happening.

Lu Zhou stared at the radiation data and plasma temperature on the console screen. He frowned and remembered that the ignition in Haizhou was different.

Academician Wang and Sivali also noticed this, and they had a serious look on their face.

The reporters, as well as Minister Novak, didn't cheer either.

Suddenly, the command room door was pushed open. An engineer wearing a hard hat walked up to Minister Novak and spoke in a trembling tone.

"Minister!"

Novak saw the look on the engineer's face and instantly began to worry.

However, he maintained a calm demeanor as he asked with a dignified look on his face.

"… What happened?"

"There's something wrong with the nuclear core."

The command room went silent.

The reporters stopped taking photos.

Minister Novak froze.

After he snapped back to reality, he began to sweat.

"What happened?! What do you mean something went wrong?"

The engineer wearing a hard hat gulped and spoke.

"It seems like our nuclear core…

"Wasn't ignited."

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Chapter 1012 Wasn"t Ignited?

Wasn't ignited…

The moment the words came out of the engineer's mouth, the command room went silent.

As the engineers of Rosatom standing in front of the control console looked at one another, Academician Sivali was dumbfounded.

"Wasn't ignited? How is that possible! We did all the inspection work… The Chinese engineers also did their job, how is it not ignited?"

When the silence in the command room was broken, the reporters had a moment of realization.

Fusion ignition had failed!

This is a project worth tens of billions!

If this project had failed, it would be a huge blow to the entire Russian energy industry, and it would destroy the relationship between China and Russia.

Chief Engineer Wang was standing next to Minister Novak. He had a dignified look on his face.

He obviously recognized the severity of the situation.

Minister Novak spoke in a serious tone.

"Go find out what is going on!"

The engineer in the hard hat nodded.

"Yes, sir! We are trying to do that!"

Due to the unexpected situation, the fusion ignition ceremony had been temporarily interrupted.

The only fortunate thing was that the fusion ignition ceremony wasn't broadcast live. The reporters were all from local Russian media outlets. They handed over their SD cards as per the request from Russian officials.

The engineers from Rosatom were running around like headless chickens, and they began to discuss the fusion ignition failure with engineers from East Asia Energy and the China National Nuclear Corporation.

"… Theoretically, there should be no malfunctions."

"But there is!"

"I know, but the reactor test went well… Someone went wrong after the core was installed."

After some testing, they weren't able to find any problems with the nuclear core. Suddenly, a Chinese engineer spoke.

"Maybe something wrong with the plant itself? Like the connection or—"

Before he could finish, he was rudely interrupted by Lermontov.

"There are no problems with our power plant!" the man spoke in an unfriendly tone. He said, "I told you, the Chinese can't be trusted! They're giving us poor quality nuclear cores!"

The second those words were said, the Chinese engineers began to look furious.

Especially Wang Zengguang, he always had a violent temper. He slammed the table and stood up.

"Poor quality? You're saying our nuclear core is poor quality? Lermontov, I want to know if you're speaking on behalf of Rosatom, or is that your own opinion!"

"Mr. Lermontov, please speak carefully!" Minister Novak quickly said. He looked at Academician Wang Zengguang and said, "Academician Wang, my apologies, Lermontov is just frustrated, that's not what he really thinks…"

Lermontov didn't deny Minister Novak's statement, but he didn't take back his words either.

Academician Wang still looked angry. If it weren't because of their signed contract, he would have left by now.

Academician Sivali, who was sitting nearby, tried to act as a peacemaker. He tried to calm both parties down, but it didn't seem to be effective.

This ceremony clearly had to end.

If this meeting continued any longer, the two sides would start fighting.

Rosatom would never admit that this was their fault, and East Asia Energy would never admit that there was a problem with the nuclear core.

The only thing they could hope for was for the engineers to fix the problem.

Regardless of which side caused the problem, they had to identify the problem before they could solve it.

After the meeting finished, Academician Wang went to the corridor and smoked a cigarette.

After he finished smoking, Lu Zhou walked over.

He didn't say anything during the meeting; he was too busy thinking about what went wrong with the power plant.

He looked at Academician Wang and spoke.

"How's the progress?"

"It's tricky."

Lu Zhou: "Did you guys inspect the He3 atom probe and the heat dissipation system?"

Academician Wang: "We did."

After a while, Lu Zhou said, "Maybe it's the core catcher? I remember there seems to be an active protection measure in place. It can forcefully shut down the reactor and terminate the reaction—"

"I did, we inspected everything." Wang Zengguang shook his head and said, "Do you really think we would miss anything?"

Emmmm…

Makes sense.

Lu Zhou went into deep thought.

It seemed like there was no way to solve the problem.

Everything was fine with the reactor, but the nuclear core couldn't be ignited.

After an hour or so, the inspection report was created.

The initial diagnosis was that the core catcher, the heat dissipation, the energy interface, etc, was all operating normally.

Except the nuclear core.

The nuclear core was like a "black box" to the Russian engineers.

Only the Chinese engineers were able to inspect the nuclear core.

Due to the contract, China did not need to provide the Russians with the full technical details.

Lermontov suddenly stood up and spoke.

"It's the Chinese responsibility to ensure the normal operation of the reactor. This is written in the contract, correct?"

Academician Wang: "It is."

"However, the only thing we haven't inspected is the nuclear core!"

Academician Wang responded to Lermontov.

"Our engineers have inspected the nuclear core, and you've already read the inspection report—"

Lermontov interrupted Academician Wang and spoke in a suspicious tone.

"Correct, that is what is on the report, but who's to say you didn't lie on the report?"

Academician Wang looked at Lermontov and narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm questioning reasonably." Lermontov stared at Academician Wang and said, "The problem is most likely in the nuclear core. We have reason to believe that. In order to accurately identify the cause of the failure, I request you provide us or a third-party Russian inspection agency the technology to inspect the nuclear core."

Academician Wang said, "That's not what it says in the contract."

Lermontov aggressively said, "Yes, but you guys did not ensure normal operation of the reactor, you guys breached the contract first!"

"I don't think we are in breach of contract, we are actively helping you solve the problem!"

Continuing on like this was meaningless. Academician Wang turned toward Minister Novak, hoping he could calm Lermontov down.

However, it seemed like Novak's stance was swinging toward Lermontov's side.

After all, the Helios fusion power station was part of Novak's vision for Russia's future.

It was important to maintain a relationship with China, but that didn't mean the Russians would always compromise. The nuclear fusion power station could not be ignited, nor could they find the origin of the problem.

Therefore, by process of elimination, he had reason to believe that the problem lied in the nuclear core.

Lu Zhou, who hadn't said anything yet, suddenly spoke.

"Can I look at the plasma turbulence monitoring data?"

"Monitoring data?" Lermontov frowned and glanced at the security director next to him. He then looked at Lermontov and said, "Why would the noisy data help with anything?"

The plasma turbulence data displayed the plasma movement in the reaction chamber, observed by the He3 atom probe. It used a mathematical model of the microfluidic movements of the plasma inside the reaction chamber.

Back then, this was a sensational research result in the physics community, and many scholars declared this a Nobel Prize level achievement. It provided a theoretical basis for a series of magnetic confinement fusion devices, such as the Stellarator.

However, for most people, this data was nothing more than noise.

Just like how there was no programmer on earth that could read code in binary numbers, that was the CPU's job.

More importantly, the reactor wasn't able to achieve ignition. What was the point of monitoring the plasma turbulence?

Lu Zhou shrugged.

"No harm in trying."

Lermontov shrugged as well.

"Go ahead then."

Even though Lermontov didn't think Lu Zhou would be able to do anything with the data, he still asked technicians from Rosatom to retrieve the plasma turbulence monitoring data.

The data was printed on a 200-page report, which was delivered to the conference room.

Academician Wang looked at the thick stack of paper and couldn't help but frown.

Forget about analyzing the data, just reading through the data would take hours.

Lermontov sat with his arms crossed, waiting for Lu Zhou's next move. Academician Sivali and Minister Novak also curiously looked at Lu Zhou, wondering what his next move was.

In fact, Lu Zhou didn't have anything special up his sleeve.

He flipped through the pages and found the plasma turbulence for the first five seconds after the reactor ignition was attempted.

After five minutes, he put down the stack of papers.

Lermontov smirked and said, "Have any insights for us, Mr. Mathematician?"

However, Lu Zhou's response was unexpected.

After putting down the report, Lu Zhou spoke confidently.

"Of course.

"The problem is not in the nuclear core."

There was a commotion in the conference room.

Obviously, as the authority figure in nuclear fusion, Lu Zhou's words had weight attached to it.

Lermontov was a little stunned. He couldn't believe Lu Zhou was able to make inferences from the noisy data, not to mention in such a short amount of time.

However, soon after, he spoke with a tone of disapproval, "I knew you would say that, but the problem is not in the power plant itself."

Lu Zhou nodded.

"You're right, the problem is not in the power plant. I think I know where the problem is."

Lermontov wasn't the only one stunned; the experts from Rosatom and Academician Wang were all astonished.

Minister Novak was the first to ask.

"Where's the problem then?"

Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.

"It's the power grid."

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Chapter 1013 Active Protection Mechanism

The entire conference room went silent.

No problems with the nuclear core, nor the power plant…

But the problem was with the external power grid?

Lermontov chuckled.

"So, you're saying, there's no problem with the battery, nor the battery case, but the problem is with the Russian power system? You're saying we can't handle nuclear fusion power? What a joke."

Lu Zhou said, "Do I sound like I'm joking?"

Lermontov impolitely said, "Academician Lu Zhou, I know you are an excellent mathematician. There are hundreds or even thousands of scholars in St. Petersburg waiting for your report at ICM. But, I have to say, you're a layman in the area of electricity."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "That's true, I don't know anything about the Russian power grid system, but I have enough data to support my claim."

Lermontov didn't say anything, he continued to sit there with his arms folded, waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Not just Lermontov, everyone in the conference room, including Academician Wang, was waiting for Lu Zhou to continue.

Lu Zhou cleared his throat and spoke.

"When we designed the nuclear core, we added many preventative safety measures. For example, the active shutdown mechanism on the core catcher, the temperature detection device on the heat dissipation system. These mechanisms can stop the ongoing nuclear reaction under special circumstances."

Lermontov snorted.

"Like what?"

Lu Zhou: "Like, when the external power grid cannot handle the electrical energy generated by nuclear fusion."

"That's not the problem," Minister Novak said. "We have adjusted the output of thermal power facilities in preparation for today's ignition. Once the core is ignited, we will immediately reduce the output of a large thermal power station nearby. When the nuclear core output reaches 10%, we will shut down St. Petersburg nuclear power plants 1 and 2… We have a comprehensive plan to adjust our energy structure."

Lu Zhou: "But have you thought about another possibility?"

Minister Novak said, "Like what?"

"Normally, unless the automatic generation control system is triggered, a little bit of electricity could easily enter the St. Petersburg power grid, but now…" Lu Zhou looked at Novak and said, "Your power grid is unable to accept even the tiniest bit of electricity from Helios."

Lermontov said, "How is that possible? Are you mocking our energy experts? You're saying our infrastructure is a joke?"

"You can interpret it however you want." Lu Zhou shrugged and said emotionlessly, "The fact of the matter is, your energy management system… the EMS, has serious compatibility issues with the Helios fusion power station.

"I'm not sure if it's a system error or a human error, basically, the electrical energy produced from the nuclear core is unable to enter the power grid. This triggered our nuclear core active protection mechanism. After looking at the plasma turbulence data, I am certain that this is the root of the problem.

"If it weren't for this active protection mechanism, we would have been in a lot more trouble."

Hundreds of millions of degree plasma melting through the nuclear core was quite dangerous.

Especially for people standing inside the power plant…

When Minister Novak heard this, his face turned blue.

Lermontov didn't look well either, he was obviously shocked by the thought of a nuclear accident. God forbid another Chernobyl accident happening again.

However, he still couldn't believe Lu Zhou was able to make inferences from the plasma turbulence data in such a short time frame.

It seemed like Lu Zhou was abusing his academic reputation.

Lermontov said, "… Stop trying to scare me, we all know you're lying—"

"Mr. Lermontov."

Lermontov was a little stunned to hear Lu Zhou mention his name. He frowned and replied, "What?"

Lu Zhou said in a serious manner, "Let me ask you this, do you really want this problem to be solved?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lermontov was a little flustered, but he quickly calmed down and said, "This project is worth tens of billions, and I am the person in charge of Rosatom's participation in this project. Why wouldn't I want this to work?!"

"Okay." Lu Zhou nodded and looked at Minister Novak. "Go find some engineers to see if I'm correct, I'm sure it will be easy."

Minister Novak nodded.

"Sure thing."

Lu Zhou stood up and stared at Lermontov. He tapped his finger on the inch-thick stack of plasma turbulence data.

"You have no idea how many of these I've read.

"I already told you where the problem is. If you want this to be resolved, listen to me.

"If you just want an accident appraisal, I can calculate one for you, but I'm not sure you'll understand my calculations."

"You little sh*t!"

Lermontov furiously stood up, but under the gaze of Maksim, he decided to sit back down.

Normally, Lermontov would have started a fight.

But for the safety of everyone, he decided against it.

…

The fusion ignition ceremony was forced to put on hold.

Per Lu Zhou's advice, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation had sent people to contact the Unified Energy System of Russia, starting an investigation on the power grid.

And for whether or not the problem really was with the power grid…

Lu Zhou was 95% certain that he was correct.

However, if he had to write down his analysis and prove his speculation using a mathematical model, it would take him at least a week.

Instead of wasting a week's time, it would be better to investigate the power grid first.

After leaving the nuclear power plant, Lu Zhou didn't return to his hotel. Instead, he found a Chinese restaurant and ate some food with Academician Wang.

They began to talk about what just happened. Academician Wang sighed and spoke emotionally.

"Honestly, this is strange. Looking at Lermontov's attitude, I think Rosatom is behind all this."

Lu Zhou put down his chopsticks and looked at Academician Wang.

"But how would this help them?"

Even though he wasn't an expert in business, he still knew a little about corporation operations.

This kind of large-scale investment into public utility projects often included many bank loans, even one day of delay could mean millions in losses.

Wang Zengguang explained patiently.

"This is a multi-billion dollar project. There are bank loans and insurance involved. If there's a problem with the nuclear core, not only can they apply for compensation from the insurance company, they can also pressure us to provide them with full technical details of the nuclear core. After all, without a third-party testing organization, it is our word against theirs."

Basically, the China National Nuclear Corporation and East Asia Energy were like the retail giants of the nuclear industry—they had a total monopoly on the industry. Now that the Russians wanted to open a retail franchise, everything about the store was stored by the Chinese.

Because China had control over the nuclear core, the Russians had to make many compromises.

However, the Russians also had limits.

One of their biggest concerns was safety.

Especially since the Russians didn't have the best track record for nuclear accidents.

Of course, having no accidents would be ideal. Both parties would benefit from clean energy.

However, now there was a serious problem with the reactor.

If the nuclear core couldn't be ignited, the Russians didn't have the technology to inspect the nuclear core. It was totally up to East Asia Energy to inspect the nuclear core.

Therefore, this was the perfect opportunity for Rosatom to pressure China into giving them nuclear core diagnosis technologies.

Lu Zhou frowned and said, "Did the Russian authorities made them do this?"

"Unlikely, but even if the Russian authorities didn't condone this, they would be on Rosatom's side. After all, Rosatom is a huge player in the nuclear power field, and the Russian government wouldn't turn on their own people."

Academician Wang Zengguang sighed and said, "I didn't expect this at all. I mean, we have a good relationship with the Russians, imagine if this happened in America."

If something like this happened in America, the relationship between the Chinese and Americans would become irreparable.

However, this was also a good lesson for East Asia Energy, which had just begun expanding overseas.

Even China's allies couldn't be fully trusted. For small Southeast Asian countries, they were glad to be supported by a superpower, but giants like Russia much preferred to take a piece themselves.

Next time, they would have to include the connected grid system as one of their inspection criteria.

Of course, that would involve national security issues and disclosure issues, so the other party might not want to cooperate.

But even then, it would be better than having a failed nuclear power station.

Academician Wang downed a shot with Lu Zhou and spoke sincerely.

"Thanks for helping today."

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "No worries, I'm still a shareholder of East Asia Energy."

"Oh, I see how it is, this meal's on you then!"

Academician Wang smiled and spoke in a more serious tone.

"I'll contact our people, ask them what we should do.

"Regardless of whether the problem is with the power grid, we cannot give them any inspection technologies. We have a decade lead in terms of fusion energy, we cannot give that up."

Lu Zhou nodded and said, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"No, you've done a lot already." Academician Wang Zengguang smiled and said, "You should focus your energy on the International Congress of Mathematicians.

"As for the fusion ignition, we'll handle it!"

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Chapter 1014 He Really Guessed Correctly?

While Lu Zhou was returning to his hotel, Minister Novak was standing in a computer room at the Unified Energy System of Russia, St. Petersburg branch. He stared at a group of technicians who were working at their computers.

Standing next to Minister Novak was the manager of the branch, Olig. This pale-skinned middle-aged man had a thick beard with a beer belly, making him look like a balloon in his tight Armani suit.

He had been talking non-stop for the past two hours.

"Mr. Minister, I can promise you that our grid operation has been perfect, and there are no problems! The engineers at our department have been monitoring the system since this morning. We are fully prepared for the Helios fusion power station energy, however, we haven't detected any voltage change from the Helios energy inlet at all—"

Minister Novak spoke with a poker face.

"I will decide if there are any problems or not."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I think you should trust us."

"Shut up."

"Okay, Minister," Olig said. Seeing how Novak began to look annoyed, Olig quickly shut his mouth.

Rosatom and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation weren't the only ones that didn't expect such a thing to happen, the Unified Energy System of Russia, which was responsible for operating the power grid, also didn't expect this.

During the project development phase, people from the Unified Energy System of Russia inspected the power station site. After making sure there were no problems, they approved to connect Helios to the grid.

After hearing the news that the fusion power station couldn't be ignited, Olig's eyelids began twitching.

He didn't know why Novak thought that the problem wasn't with the power plant, but with the power grid!

This was ridiculous!

Time quickly passed by. They weren't able to detect any problems. Olig was wondering if he should tell Minister Novak that enough was enough. However, a technician suddenly stared at his computer screen and spoke.

"Sir…"

Olig immediately looked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

The technician could feel the pressure of the gaze on him. He gulped and said, "There's something wrong with our EMS system—"

Olig suddenly realized that he might be wrong. He quickly interrupted the technician and dragged him out of the room.

"Come with me…"

Minister Novak immediately stopped the two.

"Stop!"

Minister Novak looked at the technician and spoke seriously.

"What happened? Tell me now! You will be personally responsible if you attempt to hide anything!"

The technician was scared, he ignored his chubby boss and spoke quickly.

"When we checked the EMS memory, we found several abnormal response records. When the system received an output request from Helios, it did not process the relevant request, but returned an approval message…"

Basically, the upstream sent a message that a flood was coming, while the downstream received the message, and reported that it was opening the floodgate. However, the floodgate was never opened.

Academician Sivali frowned and said, "Is it a system bug?"

"It doesn't look like a bug…" the engineer said. "I found some lines of code that don't look like a bug. It looks like someone manually changed it."

Olig began to sweat, and he quickly asked, "How is that possible? Did you misread it?!"

The technician knew he would probably be fired after this anyway, so he said, "I'm 90% sure! Maybe our safety director can look at it, I'm sure he will come to the same conclusion."

This time, Olig wasn't the only one sweating. Minister Novak, Academician Sivali, and officials from the energy department all broke out in cold sweat.

Someone did this!

Someone locked the energy input port for the EMS system!

If the nuclear core was successfully ignited, the huge surge of electrical energy generated would paralyze the entire transmission line and affect the nearby transformer stations. It would also cause a series of cascading damage to the nuclear core itself.

Fortunately, Helios' active protection system shut down the reaction…

Minister Novak thought about the hundreds of millions of degree plasma inside the fusion reactor.

He snapped back to reality and growled.

"Find out who did this! Who is responsible for maintaining the power grid system… F*ck sake!"

Olig looked at Minister Novak and spoke in a trembling tone.

"Minister, maybe it's just a system bug, we don't have to overreact—"

"Mr. Olig," Minister Novak said, "I advise you to cooperate, otherwise you will be a suspect."

Olig's eyes widened as he pointed toward himself.

"I'm a suspect? Jesus, why would I do such a thing?"

"Everyone is a suspect." Minister Novak looked at the computer room and said, "This is a well-planned, organized attack. There is no doubt there are quislings sitting among us!"

"This isn't an energy issue, this concerns national safety!"

Minister Novak looked at Olig, Sivali, as well as Lermontov from Rosatom. He spoke in a cold tone.

"I'm contacting the Federal Security Service, they will take this matter into their own hands.

"I'm sure they will be able to solve this quickly."

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Chapter 1015 Intentional Sabotage?

The early morning.

Lu Zhou was sitting in a restaurant at the Corinthia Hotel, enjoying some toast and coffee. After reading some emails, he logged onto arXiv and browsed the latest research results in algebraic geometry, differentiable manifolds, and number theory.

These days, the mathematics community had been relatively quiet. Nothing particularly interesting had been posted. In professional academic forums such as MathOverflow, most of the discussions were not about academic problems but rather gossips about the mathematical world.

Even though not everyone received an invitation to the ICM conference, the vast majority of mathematicians were following the conference happening at St. Petersburg closely.

Lu Zhou was reading a post about the predictions for the Fields Medal prize when a Russian man with a pair of sunglasses hanging from his shirt across from him asked, "Can you do me a favor and try to stay in the hotel today?"

Lu Zhou looked up from his computer screen and spoke.

"Why, has something happened?"

"If you really want to know, yes, something happened." Maksim wiped his glasses and said, "Someone has infiltrated the St. Petersburg power grid system and changed the lines of code. According to our national security intelligence office, this is a premeditated attack."

Lu Zhou said, "… How can it not be premeditated?"

"You didn't understand what I meant." Maksim smiled at Lu Zhou and said, "I'm saying, this might be a premeditated attack against you."

The atmosphere froze.

Everyone became quiet.

This was the first time…

Lu Zhou felt his life was being threatened.

Lu Zhou felt his throat getting dry, and he lifted his coffee cup and took a sip.

After a couple of seconds, he put down the coffee cup and spoke.

"… Honestly, that is a bit far-fetched. It's just a nuclear power plant failure, it's not against me personally."

Destroying an entire nuclear power plant just to hurt me…

The Helios nuclear power plant was in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. Even though the controllable fusion technology was clean and safe, it was still a nuclear reactor.

If something went wrong, it wouldn't just be a political issue.

Lu Zhou wouldn't be surprised if a war broke out.

"I think that the relationship between the two countries is more important than the Helios fusion power stations."

Maksim put on his sunglasses and stood up.

He stared at Lu Zhou through the glasses and spoke.

"Basically, it seems like there are people out to get you. We're not sure if they have more tricks up their sleeves. So, I hope you can stay in this hotel as we can 100% guarantee your safety here. If you leave here, that number becomes 90% or even 80%."

"I know." Lu Zhou nodded and looked at his computer screen as he said, "Even though I know who is behind this, I'll try to keep my activities within the hotel."

He had no intention to wander outside of the ICM conference.

If someone was onto him, it would be better for him to stay cautious.

"That's the gist of it, I have something important to take care of, I wish you a pleasant day."

Maksim waved goodbye and began walking away.

However, he walked past Lu Zhou, leaned down, and quietly spoke.

"… There are places with many girls you'd enjoy, I'm afraid we'll have to go there next time."

Lu Zhou suddenly choked on his coffee.

Lu Zhou coughed and put down his cup. He then wiped his mouth with a napkin and spoke.

"… No, thanks."

"Haha, don't be shy, my friend. There's much more to life than science. If it weren't for this accident, we would have had a lot of fun, but… maybe next time."

Maksim patted his shoulder and walked away with a smile.

The news that the ignition of the Helios fusion reactor was delayed didn't affect the people from St. Petersburg. The Pravda, which was the most authoritative newspaper in Russia, only had a small article mentioning the reactor at the bottom of the page. The article stated that due to the ICM conference and various other reasons, the fusion ignition would be delayed by a week.

However, some politically inclined people were able to smell that something was wrong.

It seemed like there was an invisible storm brewing over St. Petersburg and even the entire Russian power system…

After Maksim left the Corinthia Hotel, scholars from all over the world began to arrive at the five-star hotel, which had been vacated for the International Congress of Mathematicians.

In fact, most people arrived in the morning.

For example, Lu Zhou's mentor at Princeton, Professor Deligne, as well as Professor Fefferman, who Lu Zhou worked with on the Navier–Stokes equations, as well as Faltings, had all arrived.

Lu Zhou only heard about it this morning.

However, Lu Zhou wasn't fazed by the likes of Professor Deligne or Professor Fefferman appearing, what really stunned him was someone standing in the hotel lobby with a suitcase.

Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, swaying on her white long skirt. Her shoulders and body outline looked fuller than they were four years ago.

Lu Zhou walked out of the restaurant and walked toward the lobby elevators, where he instantly recognized her.

It seemed like Vera sensed someone staring at her. She looked around and noticed Lu Zhou.

"Professor…"

Her quiet voice was layered with surprise and joy, and her sapphire-like pupils were shining brightly.

She let go of her suitcase and jogged toward Lu Zhou.

Judging by her movement, if she didn't slow down, she would bump into Lu Zhou.

However, this kind of physical contact was too intense for the young girl.

She got closer and closer to Lu Zhou and gradually slowed down in the midst of the nervousness.

She stood in front of Lu Zhou and blushed.

She then brushed her hair and said, "Long time no see…"

"Yeah, it's been a while…" Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Are you doing well?"

"Yeah… I'm good, no need to worry about me."

Even though Vera answered confidently, Lu Zhou still felt worried.

Lu Zhou was about to keep on asking when he heard the sound of high heels stepping on granite floors.

"You're making him more worried."

The two looked over and saw Molina with two suitcases in her hand, one of which belonged to Vera.

Because Lu Zhou had seen Molina in Jinling last year, he felt like Molina hadn't changed as much as Vera.

The only difference was that her usual long trench coat was replaced by a green short coat.

Her tomboy haircut, striped white shirt, and long khaki trousers gave off a Paris vibe.

Vera paused for a second and asked, "Oh? Why?"

"If you have any problems, just tell him. He's a celebrity now, and you're his apprentice, so he can definitely help you."

"No, I'm really fine… Don't worry about me."

Vera took her suitcase and muttered thank you. She then quickly walked toward the elevator, forgetting to say goodbye to Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou saw Vera walking toward the elevator, and he grabbed Molina aside and asked in a serious manner, "Aren't you her teammate? How do you not know anything about her?"

"Obviously, my teammate hasn't opened up to me. Also, do you really think I will tell you a lady's secret without her permission?"

Molina rolled her eyes at Lu Zhou and walked toward the elevator with her suitcase.

Lu Zhou began to think.

Suddenly, he heard another familiar voice.

"Professor!"

Lu Zhou turned his head around and saw a young man with tanned skin and curly hair. The man was holding the arm of a Latino lady.

Lu Zhou didn't immediately recognize who it was.

"Hey, Professor, it's Hardy! You didn't forget about me, right?"

"I know it's you, I just need some time to process some information…"

Lu Zhou looked at the beautiful Latino lady and said, "You're… married?"

Hardy smiled and said, "Of course! It's been so many years, I'm getting old. I'm a professor now, it's now or never. It is what it is."

Lu Zhou: "…"

This kid, why does he always add a redundant sentence at the end…

I knew I shouldn't have let him graduate so soon.

Hardy could tell Lu Zhou was a little annoyed, so after making some small talk, he took his new wife toward the elevator.

Apparently, they married two months ago, and they came to St. Petersburg to attend the ICM conference, as well as going on their honeymoon.

The reason why they chose to combine their honeymoon with the ICM was that the school would reimburse their travel expenses and also give them a certain amount as travel allowance…

After attending the ICM conference, they would fly to Italy and Greece.

Hardy was one of the few people Lu Zhou knew that would do something like this…

In addition to Hardy, Lu Zhou also saw Qin Yue in the hotel lobby.

Qin Yue had changed quite a lot over the past four years.

When Qin Yue first came to Princeton, Lu Zhou remembered that he was a shy but honest person, but now, Qin Yue was more extroverted, making people feel like he was reliable.

Lu Zhou was happy to see his students grow up.

The only thing that made him a bit lost was Vera's health condition…

Hopefully, it wasn't a big problem.

But Lu Zhou felt like Vera wasn't telling the truth…

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Chapter 1016 Unlocked Hidden Achievements!

The morning of August the third.

The skies above St. Petersburg were clear as day.

The Corinthia Hotel was full of people.

Even though the conference hall was spacious, due to the sheer amount of attendees, two security checkpoints were set up at the entrance.

The chairman of the International Mathematical Union, Professor Shigefumi Mori, as well as Professor Viana, chairman of the organizing committee, stood on stage and delivered an opening speech. They were welcoming the scholars coming from all over the world and thanked the city of St. Petersburg for supporting the conference.

After that was the most eagerly anticipated stage, the award ceremony.

This was the highlight of the entire conference, and most people came just for the award ceremony.

The four award categories were considered one of the top honors of mathematics. Rumor went that obtaining any one of them would allow the scholar to follow the road of mathematics for the rest of their life.

Especially the Fields Medal.

Compared to the Golden Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement Award, this award could only be given to scholars under 40 years old, so it was the crown of mathematics.

Most people admired hard work, but everyone aspired to be a genius.

Especially for a field like mathematics, which required talent.

Lu Zhou, who was sitting in the crowd, could clearly hear people discussing next to him on who would receive this award.

"Jody Williamson, the youngest mathematician academician in Australia, established a pure algebraic Hodge theory on polynomial rings and successfully proved the Kazhdan Lusztig conjecture for Kirch group. He didn't win it last time, but this time it should be his."

"… Marina Vyazovska should also have a chance. Her research is in discrete geometry, and she extended the 3-dimensional sphere problem to 8 and 24 dimensions and also won the 2017 Clay Institute award, as well as the Ramanujan Prize. My mentor described her as a genius. She's already 38 years old, this is her last chance."

"Marina Vyazovska's research is indeed excellent, but the field of discrete geometry is too unpopular, not to mention that her supervisor is not a famous scholar. I'm more optimistic about another Ukrainian mathematician, also a lady."

"Who?"

"The person that proved the Cole Number Theory Prize, Vera Pulyuy, the winner of the Cole Number Theory Prize, the Ramanujan gold award, and the European Mathematical Society award. Both her research and her mentor are top notch. Plus she's from Princeton. If they don't consider her this time, they definitely would next time."

"Jesus, why is the Fields Medal only once every four years? There are too many people who deserve to win."

"Because if they hand out too many awards, the awards will become meaningless. We have to select the best of the best, the people that will change the future of mathematics."

Lu Zhou overheard their conversation, and he had a surprised look on his face.

He didn't know that Vera won all those awards.

He thought that maybe she didn't think the awards were worth mentioning, which made him a little sad.

Professor Mori didn't let the attendees wait for long. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and began the award process.

"First is the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, I know you guys have been waiting a long time for this."

The second he finished speaking.

The huge venue went dead silent.

After Professor Mori looked around the venue, he spoke in a calm and solemn voice.

"We often say that mathematics is the foundation of science. It's the tool that allows us to understand the universe. Integrating advanced mathematical methods into applied science can change the world. However, there are very few scholars that are able to create the tools that shape our future.

"I can spend the entire day talking about his achievements…"

Everyone was listening attentively, including Lu Zhou.

However, suddenly, someone spoke.

"… Oh, Jesus, I already know who it is, just give it to him!"

Soon after, someone spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, everyone knows who's going to win the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, just go next."

Lu Zhou: "…"

F*ck sake!

Can't you guys just shut up?

This is ruining the suspense!

Lu Zhou turned his head and wanted to see who was ruining the moment, but there were too many people in the venue, he couldn't tell who were the ones speaking.

Professor Mori continued on stage, "His mathematics is changing science, changing the world!"

"The award winner is…

"Lu Zhou!"

A thunderous round of applause began.

Lu Zhou stood up in the midst of the applause and took a deep breath. He walked calmly on stage and received the medal from Professor Shigefumi Mori's hands.

This professor gently tapped Lu Zhou on the arm, and he had a friendly smile on his face.

"Congratulations, we meet again."

Applied science had little to do in the mathematics world, so scholars such as Grothendieck and Hardy were proud to call mathematics as "pure" and "rigorous".

But regardless, applied science was one of the important applications of mathematics. Not to mention that even scholars like Grothendieck eventually had their tools applied in the sciences.

The Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was for scholars that applied mathematics to the sciences.

"Thank you, it's nice to see you again." Lu Zhou shook hands with this elderly scholar and said, "I hope we will meet again."

Shigefumi Mori paused for a second and smiled.

"Do you mean… another prize ceremony? Unfortunately, there aren't many medals left we can give you, and when you're seventy years old, I will no longer be here."

Lu Zhou: "But there's still a Leelavati Prize?"

Shigefumi Mori coughed and said,"… Please give other mathematicians a chance, Professor Lu. Please head off the stage."

Lu Zhou: "…"

The Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award was a lifetime award, and Lu Zhou was far from being retired. However, Lu Zhou felt like he should have a chance at receiving the Nevanlinna Prize for mathematical computer science, as well as the Leelavati Prize, which was mathematics "public outreach".

He still remembered that the Turkish guy that won the Leelavati Prize seemed to have built numerous primary schools in remote desert areas?

I've contributed way more to mathematics than a couple of primary schools, why shouldn't I win the award?

Even though Lu Zhou didn't really care about the medal, he still felt a little unjust.

After he got off stage, he sat in his designated Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize seat and quietly waited for the award ceremony to continue.

Next up was the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award and the Leelavati Prize; the former was a lifetime award, and the latter was an award for "ordinary" people who have made outstanding contributions to popularizing science and mathematics.

The atmosphere in the venue was pushed to a max when the Fields Medal ceremony began.

Lu Zhou was sitting in the front row. He could feel the pairs of eyes behind him, all staring at the stage.

Professor Shigefumi Mori spoke.

The second he spoke, everyone froze.

"Number theory is an ancient discipline, it has been around ever since the beginning of mathematics. Ancient conjectures have yet to be solved. It is the origin of all of the knowledge we have mastered so far.

"Few people are able to make truly outstanding achievements in this field. Only the bravest warriors are able to climb the daunting mountains.

"The first winner of the Fields Medal is—

"Vera Pulyuy from Princeton!"

Thunderous applause immediately erupted, echoing in Lu Zhou's ears.

Vera?

It wasn't like he didn't think about this possibility.

But he didn't expect this at all!

She was indeed an excellent scholar, there was no doubt that her research was worthy of an award consideration. But she was far too young.

If Lu Zhou recalled correctly, she was 22 when she received her PhD from Princeton.

It had been four years, and she was only 26 years old…

Of course, what caught Lu Zhou off guard wasn't the fact that Vera won.

It was the line of blue text that appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations, User, hidden achievements unlocked!]

[Please enter the system space to collect your rewards!]

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Chapter 1017 Famous Teacher, Famous Studen

Vera Pulyuy!

The winner was only 26 years old!

Even though this didn't break Professor Lu's record, 26 years old was still extremely young.

What surprised people wasn't just her age, but also her gender.

Prior to this, the only female mathematician to have won a Fields Medal was Maryam Mirzakhani from Stanford University. Unfortunately, the year after she won her award, in 2017, she died from breast cancer.

Therefore, Vera would become the world's only living female Fields Medalist.

"The Fields Medalists are getting younger and younger, first Schultz, then Professor Lu, then Vera Pulyuy…"

Xu Chengyang looked at the beautiful young figure on stage and said, "When I see these young people pop up one by one, I feel so old."

His last chance at winning a Fields Medal was four years ago.

And just like he had expected, he lost.

There was nothing unfortunate about this. After all, the Fields Medal was only awarded once every four years. Unless someone was an excellent professor, as well as an excellent researcher, it was unlikely for them to win the award.

For example, Lu Zhou's supervisor was Deligne. Coupled with his outstanding research such as Goldbach's conjecture proof and the Navier-Stokes, it was no wonder the International Mathematical Union gave him the award at such a young age.

Another example was Schultz, whose mentor was Michael Rapoport. Michael was from the University of Bonn, just like Faltings. Not to mention Schultz's "perfect space" theory was one of the most promising research directions of algebraic geometry. Even then, he still took 2 terms to win a medal.

While Xu Chengyang was well known domestically, he was only a semi-famous scholar in the international world. There was still a big gap between him and the top of the food chain.

Not to mention that there was also Zhang Wei, who was sitting next to him.

Zhang Wei was superior to Xu Chengyang, both in terms of international and domestic reputation.

Zhang Wei nodded sympathetically and sighed.

"Yeah, time flies."

It had already been four years.

Without him knowing it, he went from a young scholar to a scholar who was almost in his fifties.

It felt like just yesterday they were the new generation of mathematicians, but now they were the old comers, about to be retired.

Xu Chengyang smiled and said, "Our time is past… But don't you think this is incredible, not only is Professor Lu so successful, but so are his students."

Zhang Wei shook his head and said, "It's not incredible. I remember Vera Pulyuy won a gold IMO medal and went to Princeton with a recommendation letter from Tao Zhexuan. She is talented, and her teachers taught her well."

A ton of Fields Medalists had won IMO gold medals before. If the student was talented, paired with a good supervisor, it was likely for the student to win a Fields Medal.

The only surprising thing was her age and gender.

Xu Chengyang said, "IMO gold medal, we have a few. There's this kid that got a perfect score. I wonder if he's going to win another Fields Medal for China."

Even though Lu Zhou won the first Fields Medal for China, Xu Chengyang knew that it would be difficult to win another.

"This was similar to Ramanujan's contribution to the Indian mathematics community. Even though there have been many outstanding Indian mathematicians, none of them have gotten even close to Ramanujan."

"It's possible." Zhang Wei patted his friend's shoulder and said, "Professor Lu is back in his home country, right? It's only been four years, he needs time to develop talent. Give it another 15 years, I'm sure China will produce a group of outstanding mathematicians!"

What convinced Zhang Wei wasn't just Lu Zhou's abilities, but also the changes that had been taking place in China's academic community.

He could sense that Professor Lu's achievements were causing the state and people to pay more attention to mathematics.

The support from the state meant everything.

Now, the Chinese academic community had fully recognized the contribution mathematics made to the applied sciences.

Something like this was unthinkable ten years ago.

This meant that Lu Zhou's impact on the mathematics community was far more than the couple of students he taught…

On the other side of the venue, Academician Wang Shicheng was quiet ever since the award ceremony began. He had a look of relief on his face.

A few days ago, he was still holding a grudge against Lu Zhou for poaching a talent.

But now, he felt like there was nothing wrong with what Lu Zhou did.

The Yan University International Mathematical Research Center had been around for many years, but even though they had trained many outstanding scholars, none of them were at the top of the international field.

If this guy really has the ability to create Fields Medal scholars…

Maybe it's a good thing that the IMO kid went to him instead.

Sitting near Professor Wang's seat was Professor Deligne.

This old man stared at the girl on stage and snorted. He suddenly said, "… I didn't expect them to choose Pulyuy."

Professor Fefferman smiled and said, "As for her academic achievements, anyone that can prove Collatz conjecture is a world-class scholar. Regardless of how much Lu Zhou helped her, judging from her thesis, most of the work was done by her."

Deligne stared at Fefferman and said, "You really don't think they're giving this award just to be politically correct and inclusive?"

Professor Fefferman had a helpless expression on his face.

"… Fine, I thought about that as well. In fact, Marina Vyazovska is also a good choice, but giving her the medal is a little far-fetched."

Professor Deligne suddenly said, "This was not the case in mathematics before. We didn't have all this political correctness."

He wasn't against giving the Fields Medal to Vera, nor did he deny that Vera was an excellent scholar. However, he was more concerned with the mathematical community as a whole, and he felt like politics was penetrating the purity of mathematics.

A long time ago, the only thing that mattered was a scholar's academic contributions.

But now, they had to take into account nationality, skin color, gender, and even political backgrounds. Even though being a minority alone wasn't enough to win a Fields Medal, it certainly helped.

The politically correct crowd was slowly destroying the freedom and independence of academia…

Professor Fefferman shrugged and said, "The times are changing, whether we accept it or not, we have to adapt to this change.

"Also, it's not like we're the only ones that have to adapt to this new reality."

Deligne stared at him.

"Do you think this is good?"

Fefferman: "That's a problem for the future generation to worry about."

…

There was a round of thunderous applause.

However, Lu Zhou's mind was elsewhere.

Not because he fainted from the excitement, but because he was in the system space.

[Congratulations, User, "Famous Teacher, Famous Student" achievement unlocked!]

[Conditions achieved: Nurture a student who has achieved the highest level of honor in their respective field!]

[Reward: 100,000 experience points, "Void Memory a" sample (rare)!]

Void Memory?

"Rare"?

Also, what does the "a" mean is there a b,c, and d?

Lu Zhou saw the rewards pop up on the information screen. He paused for a second.

Even though this system had played many cruel jokes on him, such as the "Easter egg" sample, his intuition told him that this wasn't a joke sample.

Without hesitating, he turned off the reward notification and opened his inventory.

After all, it was only 100,000 experience points. He needed millions of experience points just to level up his mathematics.

His inventory was opened.

Sitting inside was a purple-shaped object.

Its shape was difficult to describe. It was like a spherically shaped cloud, like there was something hiding inside the cloud.

Lu Zhou gulped and clicked on the icon.

However, the item description didn't pop up. Instead, he felt a wave of electric shock through his fingers.

"Ouch!"

This hurts!

This was the first time Lu Zhou felt this sensation inside the system space.

However, the feeling didn't discourage Lu Zhou. Instead, he looked intrigued.

"Interesting…

"… I always thought that the system space existed in my consciousness, similar to a dream. I didn't expect to feel any pain here."

He became more and more curious about the system.

Maybe the correct way to open the item is to hold it firmly?

However, Lu Zhou decided against this.

He was at the ICM conference.

Anything could happen to his physical body on the outside.

He should be more careful.

At the very least, he should find a quiet place where he could be by himself…

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Chapter 1018 Dirty Trading

CTV had obtained the rights to broadcast the conference.

Now that Academician Lu won another prize at ICM, the CTV obviously wouldn't miss this excellent promotional opportunity.

Even though it wasn't a Fields Medal, it was still an ICM award, the highest level of honor, recognized by the entire mathematics community.

Why wouldn't they share this exciting moment with the country?

The reporter nearly wrote that the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was more impressive than the Fields Medal.

But strictly speaking, Carl Friedrich Gauss achieved ten times more than John Charles Fields, not to mention that the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize was the first award to be given.

So if you put it that way…

Maybe one could argue that the Carl Friedrich Gauss prize was more impressive?

However, even though the CTV tried to promote this award ceremony, it didn't receive a huge response.

There was only one reason.

It was because the Chinese people were bored of seeing Academician Lu win awards.

Clearly, someone at CTV didn't realize this.

In other words, they overestimated the impact of this award.

Li Mo was eating lunch with his family when the TV happened to show a video of Professor Lu winning the award. Li Mo thought that this would be a good opportunity to tell his parents the secret he had been hiding for the past two months.

When father Li Zhong heard that his son wasn't going to Yan University, he couldn't believe his ears. He had to confirm with his son that his son wasn't joking around.

A brief moment of silence went by.

After that, he slammed his fist on the table and spoke.

"You little b*stard! Who the f*ck let you apply to Jinling, didn't you tell me you're going to Yan University?!"

Li Mo dropped his chopsticks and jumped out of his chair.

"Dad, listen to me, listen to me!"

"Listen my as*! I'm going to give you a beating so bad you'll want to crawl back into your mother's belly!"

Li Mo said, "No, please."

"Sh*t up!"

A month ago, Li Zhong was ecstatic when he heard that his son got full marks in the mathematics olympiad. People that didn't know him thought he had won the lottery.

In his opinion, winning the gold medal meant a guaranteed entry into Yan University!

In fact, that was what his son told him.

But now…

He heard that his son wasn't going to Yan University, nor Shuimu, but Jin University!

His blood began to boil.

"Professor Lu is at Jin University!"

"Who cares about Professor Lu? Is mathematics going to pay the bills? You're going to marry mathematics for the rest of your life?!"

"Why can't I?"

"You little sh*t, let me go grab my belt!"

"No, Dad, please don't, you could ruin a future mathematician!"

"Don't give me that! Stand still!"

The news broadcast continued to play on TV.

Lu Zhou received the medal from Shigefumi Mori and sat back down. Soon after was the Shiing-Shen Chern Mathematics Award, the Leelavati Prize, and finally the Fields Medal.

Even though these awards had nothing to do with Lu Zhou or China, CTV still captured some shots of the winners out of respect.

When Li Mo saw the lady on stage, his eyes lit up as he spoke.

"Dad, look, that Vera Pulyuy girl, she's Lu Zhou's student from Princeton!"

That seemed to do the trick.

His dad curiously looked back at the TV.

"Student?"

Li Zhong stared at the girl on TV and said, "She's quite pleasant to the eyes… Doesn't look like a mathematician to me."

Li Mo sighed in relief and said, "That's not the important part, this Fields Medalist was taught by Professor Lu!"

Li Zhong said, "So what?"

Li Mo: "Professor Lu is going to be my teacher!"

Li Zhong snorted and spoke.

"Okay, keep bragging, kid, he's an academician, he barely even gives lectures, you think he has time to teach you?"

Li Mo said, "Dad! I'm being serious, I have his email, I can show it to you."

Li Zhong realized that his son didn't seem to be joking. He frowned and put down his belt.

"You sure Academician Lu is going to personally teach you?"

Li Mo: "It doesn't matter if he personally teaches me, it's not like I need help every day. He'll just guide me in the right direction, I can teach myself."

"I guess being a student of Academician Lu is pretty good." Li Zhong nodded and said, "He can probably help you get a job."

Li Mo said, "Jesus, Dad, why do you only care about getting a job? Can't you think about my dreams? What's the point of life without dreams?"

Li Zhong said, "What kind of dreams do you have?"

Li Mo smiled and stared at the TV.

"Who cares about an IMO medal…

"I want a bigger medal!"

…

After the list of Fields Medal winners was announced, the Mathoverflow forum was filled with discussion posts.

Everyone knew who was going to win the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize, but the new female Fields Medalist shocked everyone.

The second female Fields Medalist!

Only 26 years old!

Combined with her physical beauty, Vera completely overshadowed the other three winners.

[Jesus! 26 years old! Is she just cutting the line?]

[Why would the committee do this, I think this is unfair for scholars that have been waiting for more than a decade.]

[There is no doubt that proving the Collatz conjecture is worthy of this, and her main work is perfecting Professor Lu's Group Structure Method. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving her this award.]

[That's what I think, but she is too young… and she's a female.]

[What's wrong with being a female, you pig?]

[I'm just saying, maybe she did some favors to get where she is…]

Lu Zhou: "…"

These idiots…

What kind of thinking is this?

He felt like there were more and more Chinese scholars joining the MathOverflow forum, it was becoming more and more similar to Weibo.

But honestly, even Lu Zhou himself didn't expect Vera to win the prize.

More precisely, he didn't expect her to win it this year.

After all, 26 years old was very young.

Also, her academic achievements were barely on the cutoff for a Fields Medal. Unlike Lu Zhou's achievements, she didn't produce any revolutionary result that would immediately warrant a Fields Medal.

After the award ceremony, the most famous opera and ballet group from St. Petersburg began their performance.

Even though Lu Zhou was sitting near Vera, they never had a chance to speak.

After the talent show was over, he saw that Vera was gone.

His phone vibrated.

He took out his phone and saw that Xiao Ai had sent him a message.

[Master, do you want me to find her room number?]

Lu Zhou: "No, thanks."

That sounds like something a stalker would do.

Xiao Ai: [Are you sure? It seems like you want to talk to her. ( ́‸')]

Lu Zhou: "… No, it's fine."

Xiao Ai: [Why? ・ω・]

"I don't have anything to say…"

Lu Zhou sighed and scratched his head as he said, "Sometimes, I don't know what to do."

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Chapter 1019 Distant Professor Lu

In fact, Lu Zhou felt like he was too paranoid sometimes.

Not every problem had a correct answer.

Trying to find a correct answer might turn out to be counterproductive…

The evening banquet was held at the buffet at the Corinthia Hotel.

The hotel prepared delicious food for this banquet and changed the dining hall seating arrangement in order to accommodate the maximum number of participants, as well as leaving enough space for the mathematicians to socialize.

The protagonists of the banquet were obviously the Fields Medal winners.

They were the new celebrities of the mathematics world, and they were attracting attention like magnets. Basically, everyone in the banquet hall had their gaze on them.

However, one of the most important characters, Vera Pulyuy, didn't show up, so a lot of people were disappointed.

Even though Lu Zhou was a little concerned about Vera, he wasn't too worried.

After all, she had a report to do tomorrow morning. He could speak to her then.

Rather, Lu Zhou was more concerned about the purple object inside his system space inventory.

Void Memory?

What the hell is that?

Lu Zhou was a little zoned out during the banquet. He was getting another glass of wine when he nearly bumped into an old friend…

"Careful, my friend, I don't want to ruin this shirt."

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize." Professor Fefferman smiled and touched glasses with Lu Zhou as he said, "I think you look out of the zone."

Lu Zhou took a sip of wine and stared at him.

"I am?"

"Yeah, when you're looking at me, I can feel that your attention is elsewhere." Professor Fefferman jokingly said, "Is it because your student didn't come to the banquet?"

Lu Zhou: "… No."

Lu Zhou admitted that he was a little zoned out, but it wasn't because of Vera. That would get resolved tomorrow.

Okay, maybe Vera was 1% of the reason why he was zoned out.

But most of the reason was due to something else.

Lu Zhou thought that Fefferman would continue to ask and gossip, but it seemed like Fefferman dropped the topic and they began to talk about something else.

They talked about research on the Riemann zeta function for a while, as well as the conjecture that Lu Zhou was working on. When they were bidding farewell, Professor Fefferman suddenly said something to Lu Zhou.

"Wait a second."

Lu Zhou stopped and looked back.

"What's wrong?"

Professor Fefferman smiled and raised the glass in his hand.

"Congratulations for adding another medal to your collection."

Lu Zhou: "Thank you."

"Also, a piece of advice." Professor Fefferman patted Lu Zhou's shoulder and smiled as he said, "Remember, never have any regrets.

"You only get one chance at life, we all worry too much.

"The older you get, the more you realize that some things can't be changed."

…

The banquet came to an end.

Because there were so many friends at the banquet, despite Lu Zhou's increased metabolic capacity, he still got a little tipsy.

However, he was doing a lot better than other people.

Nearby, Krugman and Albert were completely wasted. In the end, the waiter asked them to rest in the hotel lounge instead.

People gave those two strange looks as they wondered why an economist and physicist were getting along so well.

After Lu Zhou washed his face in the bathroom to freshen up, he took the elevator upstairs.

Lu Zhou stopped in front of his room and looked back at Wang Peng as he spoke in a serious manner.

"Unless there is something serious, don't bother me."

"Okay."

Lu Zhou nodded and was about to close the door. However, he opened the door and spoke to Wang Peng.

"Scratch that, even if it's important, call me first."

Wang Peng: "… Okay."

"Also, if you hear any noises, don't worry about me, I'm fine."

It seemed like Wang Peng had misinterpreted Lu Zhou's words. He said, "Don't worry, I won't interrupt your personal life… It's good to have some fun sometimes."

Lu Zhou: "…?"

Lu Zhou closed his door and lay down on his bed. He told Xiao Ai to pay attention to the security cameras, then went inside the system space.

Lu Zhou stood inside the pure white system space as he walked toward the holographic screen. He reached out and opened his information screen.

The purple-cloud looking object was still sitting inside his inventory.

It was surrounded by strings of smoke, similar to octopus tentacles.

"If I'm correct… This shouldn't be used in the real world, it should be used in the system space."

Lu Zhou stared at the purple object.

Suddenly, he reached out and gently touched the surface of the sphere.

This time, it was different than when he was in the conference hall.

He didn't feel his fingertips being shocked. Instead, it was like his finger was immersed in hot water; he felt uncontrollably warm.

Lu Zhou suddenly realized something, and he reached out and exited his inventory.

"It's not just pain, but also temperature…

"It looks like this is something that exists in my consciousness.

"And for some reason, I feel different things based on the environment around me.

"Maybe it's some kind of protection mechanism?"

Lu Zhou wanted to change his environment by putting on some music and testing his hypothesis.

However, he realized there was no need for that.

After all, the key to unlocking the truth was right in front of him. He just had to use the key to open the box.

"… Okay, let me see what kind of secrets are inside you."

Lu Zhou reached out again and firmly grasped the purple sphere floating in the inventory.

He felt a wave of warmth spreading throughout his body.

Lu Zhou tried to take this thing out of the inventory but something unexpected happened.

The tentacles wrapped around the purple sphere suddenly exploded, wrapping around his fingers.

Lu Zhou wanted to let go but the tentacles wrapped around his arms soon covered his entire body in a thick gel-like substance…

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1020 Memory From the Void

Honestly speaking, Lu Zhou felt like he was on a roller coaster.

It was like the roller coaster was at its highest point, about to fall downward.

Lu Zhou floated in the endless darkness for a long time. Suddenly, he felt a sensation of gravity and saw a faint light source.

He gradually approached the light source.

He was able to touch the light source.

Lu Zhou was wondering what the system was trying to tell him when he was suddenly pulled toward the light source.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

Touch, smell, taste…

All of his senses were turned to 11.

The strong sense of wind made Lu Zhou squint, and he desperately tried to open his eyes…

He was shocked by what he saw.

"Where is this?!"

Every inch of Lu Zhou's body was shocked, he had no idea where he was.

This was a strange place.

An endless land, a concrete jungle.

The minimalist black towers looked evil, every inch of the ground was covered in metal skyscrapers, and the streets were straight as a ruler.

From the outside, this looked like a city.

However, Lu Zhou couldn't sense a single sign of life out here.

It seemed like no one had ever lived here before.

If he had to live here, he would go insane in a week.

There was only one reason.

This place was like a grave.

It was like the skyscrapers were individual tombstones.

For some reason, this reminded Lu Zhou of the novel "Foundation" by Asimov. The vast majority of people lived underground and worked in cubicles, the surface was covered in industrial facilities, and the Earth was no longer a planet, but rather a giant factory…

It wasn't clear if Asimov's world was as minimalistic and structured, but the scene in front of Lu Zhou looked like something out of an apocalypse movie…

Lu Zhou didn't have a lot of time to think.

The gravitational force dragging him from the sky threw him on the surface.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and prepared himself to be squashed.

However, a gentle force caused him to decelerate as he reached the ground.

Lu Zhou's pupils expanded as he spoke with excitement.

"Anti-gravity?"

"Wait, no… This is not reality, what am I saying."

This was the world of his consciousness.

Even though Lu Zhou didn't know why the system was doing this, that didn't change the fact that his real body was on a soft bed at the Corinthia Hotel in St. Petersburg.

Therefore, nothing here was real.

It was like those VR games in science fiction movies. A VR game that followed the law of physics would feel weird.

His feet finally touched the ground.

Lu Zhou calmed down a little and looked around him.

This was the first time he really felt the scale of this man-made object.

He didn't know what material the buildings were made of; they were reflective and smooth, without a single trace of flaw.

"What a strange design…"

Lu Zhou reached out and touched the black walls, and he suddenly looked shocked.

Even though he shouldn't judge a material just by the feeling of touch alone, his intuition told him that this level of polish was impossible to achieve with modern industrial technology.

This technology was centuries ahead of the current technology.

Of course, that wasn't the most shocking part.

Inside a gravitational environment, this metal structure was able to keep its shape, even though it extended several kilometers into the sky… This kind of engineering structure would never be able to exist on Earth.

Now Lu Zhou began to feel like maybe this wasn't entirely in his consciousness. Maybe this was a real place.

After all, the thing in his inventory was called "Void Memory", not a "Void Game" or "Void Movie". Even though the system sometimes screwed with him, the system never manipulated him…

His hands glided on the smooth mirror-like surface. Suddenly, it seemed like he had touched an invisible switch as a large metal wall soon moved, giving way to a passageway.

Lu Zhou paused for a second.

He then remembered that none of this would hurt his physical body, so he took a deep breath and bravely walked in.

The building was spacious.

Black metal stripes in the shape of a blade were connected from the ceiling to the floor.

There were flashing blue dots shining on the metal blade strips.

That was the only source of light in this dark building.

The scene in front of him reminded him of a computer server, and suddenly, a thought appeared in his mind.

Maybe…

This building is a huge computer, filled with chips.

Maybe this "city" is actually an integrated circuit with countless processors, a "planet" computer…

When he was flying out of the sky, he couldn't see the boundary of the city.

"… I can't imagine what kind of data would take this big of a computer to process."

Lu Zhou carefully walked through the rows of blades.

Soon after, he walked into the central room of the building.

This circular room had a much lower ceiling than the entrance, only a few meters high. Sitting in the middle of the room was a shining blue pool of water.

Lu Zhou walked up and looked down, and he saw that the blue light was projected from under the pool.

A wave of smoke spilled out from the edge of the pool. He could tell the pool was very shallow, but the deep layer of mist gave him a chilling feeling.

His intuition told him that the pool might be filled with extremely low-temperature liquid helium.

As for its use…

It was probably used to cool down the thousands of "blades" in the building.

Lu Zhou stood around the edge of the pool and walked around. He wanted to take notice of the engineering design when he suddenly noticed something under the pool.

"… Is there something hidden underneath?"

Lu Zhou frowned and crouched down.

He saw cubes sitting in the pool.

Suddenly, he had a crazy thought.

Should I grab one?

His curiosity got the better of him.

This is all in my head.

Even if it hurts, it won't affect my real body.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and made up his mind. He used all of his courage and placed his hands in the chilling liquid helium.

The second his hand touched the liquid.

It was like the pool of water came to life, it began to move wildly.

"This is a super liquid!"

The instantaneously vaporized liquid helium formed a vapor layer due to the Leidenfrost effect, protecting him from the cold.

However, this effect didn't last for long.

Lu Zhou used all of his energy to endure the freezing pain as he reached out and took a cube from the pool.

"Ouch!!!"

The cube was out of the liquid.

Lu Zhou sat down on the ground.

He looked at the rumbling water and the cube in his frozen hand.

Using the faint light from the ceiling, he could barely see that the cube was gold-colored with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

He could hear a buzzing sound from the cube.

Lu Zhou finally remembered where he had seen this thing before.

However, last time, it wasn't gold, it was black…

He suddenly felt a huge sensation of gravitational force.

It felt like everything around him was being sucked into a black hole…

"Is it time to leave?"

The gold cube shattered into a million pieces as his body was sucked away by the abyss.

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1021 Blood

Lu Zhou opened his eyes violently.

He bounced up from his bed, his chest was thumping, and he was breathing heavily.

He suddenly realized that his clothes were soaked in sweat.

Lu Zhou rubbed his forehead and got out of bed. He went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and took a sip, trying to calm himself down.

What happened was entirely in his mind.

But perhaps it was too realistic, the memory was burned into his mind.

It was almost like…

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and stared at the night scene. He stood there until the bottle of mineral water in his hand didn't feel cold anymore. He turned around and muttered to himself.

"It's like…

"It's like a nightmare."

He went to the bathroom and took a shower.

Lu Zhou put on some new clothes and sat down at his computer desk.

He returned to the system space and made sure that the pure white system space hadn't changed because of the "Void Memory a".

However, the purple sample inside his inventory had disappeared.

Like it had never even existed.

Lu Zhou snapped back to reality and opened a document. He typed down some lines of words.

[What were those black buildings?

[If it is a computer, who does it belong to?

[What is it calculating?]

In addition, those golden cubes soaked at the bottom of the pool were the same thing as his "Debris No.2".

He wasn't in a hurry. After he returned to Jin Ling, he would use his newfound knowledge to research the Debris No.2.

Lu Zhou contemplated for a second before setting a password for the document.

Even if someone read about his ridiculous dream, nothing would happen.

But it was better to be safe.

…

The next day.

Vera's 45-minute report began, and the venue was set to be at the lecture hall 7.

The lecture hall was quite lively.

A lot of people were curious about this female Fields Medalist.

After all, even though there were plenty of female physicists and chemists, there weren't a lot of female mathematicians.

Especially outstanding female mathematicians.

Not to mention that Vera was both talented on the inside and outside.

Even scholars that weren't in the field of analytic number theory decided to attend the report.

Lu Zhou, who arrived at the venue ten minutes in advance, almost couldn't find a seat. Schultz, who was sitting in the middle of the lecture hall, waved at him.

"I was saving this seat for my friend Akshay, but he's attending another report instead."

Lu Zhou: "Thank you."

Schultz smiled.

"You're welcome."

Lu Zhou yawned as he grabbed the thesis sitting in front of him. He casually flipped through the pages.

He didn't sleep well last night.

His brain was a mess, and he couldn't stop thinking about the metal city, the black buildings, the metal blades, the liquid helium…

Schultz: "You didn't sleep well?"

Lu Zhou: "Yeah."

Schultz: "All nighter?"

"Sort of," Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "I had a long nightmare."

Schultz curiously asked, "What did you dream about?"

Lu Zhou: "… About the future."

Schultz frowned and asked, "Are you sure it was a nightmare?"

Lu Zhou: "I think so… I'm not sure if it's the future of humanity… I mean, I'm not sure whether or not I've seen it in science fiction movies before. It had an apocalyptic vibe."

"Like 'I am legend'?"

"Haha, kind of, but that's an old movie."

Schultz shrugged and jokingly said, "That's kind of sad, the greatest scientist of this century has a pessimistic view about the future. Looks like I should consider buying some insurance."

Lu Zhou shook his head and smiled.

"Hey, that's not funny."

Schultz smiled and said, "But you're laughing?"

Lu Zhou: "I'm laughing because the first thing you thought of is to buy insurance… Who's going to insure your insurer?"

Schultz rubbed his chin and thought.

"That is a problem."

While the two were talking, the report began.

Vera stood on stage, and Lu Zhou felt like she didn't look too well.

However, he could ask about that after the report.

Now that the report had begun, he should focus on the academic side.

This was out of respect for the presenter.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and focused his attention on the thesis in his hand.

Because he had been so busy recently, he didn't have time to read the report thesis.

However, that didn't really matter.

He could comprehend most of the concepts just by glancing through them.

"Supplement to the hyperelliptic curve analysis method?" Lu Zhou said after reading the abstract. He raised his eyebrows with interest. "That is interesting."

Basically, Vera built on the foundation of the hyperelliptic curve analysis method. However, she used a more sophisticated method to introduce the Plancherel formula to the Heisenberg group. This made the hyperelliptic curve analysis method more applicable to connected one-dimensional complex manifolds on Riemann surfaces.

It was difficult to explain this in layman's terms. But in short, this was a novel idea that caught the attention of Lu Zhou and the audience.

It even inspired Lu Zhou so much that Lu Zhou had the impulse to go back to his hotel immediately and go on a retreat.

Of course, that was just a thought.

He wouldn't act on his impulse like that.

Not to mention that Vera was still presenting.

She finally had the chance to give a talk to the entire mathematics community. If her mentor had suddenly left in the middle of her talk, she might start crying on stage…

Schultz listened to Vera's report. With his arms folded, he suddenly sighed.

"Honestly, I'm quite jealous of you."

Without turning his head, Lu Zhou spoke.

"… Jealous of what?"

"Of you having a smart and obedient student. Whenever you come up with a new theory, she's there to help you perfect it."

Lu Zhou smiled.

However, something suddenly happened.

Vera suddenly began coughing violently on stage.

"… Sorry."

Vera covered her mouth and was about to continue her report. However, when she tried to speak, she began coughing again.

Vera began to sweat, her hand leaned on the whiteboard, and her face turned pale.

A staff member immediately went on stage.

"Miss Pulyuy, let's stop the report for now, if you don't feel well—"

"No, let me finish writing!"

She clenched her fists as a flash of confusion appeared in her eyes. However, the look of confusion was soon replaced by courage and determination.

A year ago, when she first started to get sick, she knew she didn't have much time.

She came all this way…

The staff member hesitated for a bit and retreated.

Vera looked at the whiteboard.

Her mind had never been clearer.

She clenched her teeth and began writing on the whiteboard.

Because of her pain and anxiety, the numbers and symbols on the whiteboard began to look distorted, but the flow of thoughts in her mind hadn't stopped.

She wrote down all of her thoughts on the whiteboard, including those that weren't written in the thesis.

It seemed like time and space had disappeared, so did the pain in her chest.

Apparently, when a person reached their physical limit, the body would allocate all resources to the brain.

However, she didn't have time to think about this.

She didn't do this for the mathematics community, or her mentor…

This might be her last report…

But…

She was going to do her best!

Finally, she finished writing down the last line of equations.

She took half a step back and faintly smiled.

Even though she hadn't solved the maze.

At least…

This might be of help to other people.

Especially Lu Zhou.

Suddenly, she began to lose consciousness.

She leaned against the whiteboard but her sleeve left a blood mark on the whiteboard.

Blood!

There was an uproar and commotion in the lecture hall.

Sh*t…

Vera's heart dropped when she saw the red marks.

I've survived for so long, I can't believe this is happening today…

This is both the worst and best day of my life.

Her legs gradually lost their strength.

Before she lost consciousness, she saw a figure rushing toward her as she collapsed to the ground.

She finally realized that…

She had no regrets.

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Chapter 1022 Trash Can

St. Petersburg hospital.

Ward entrance.

A skinny elderly man covered his face while sobbing silently.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have voted, if it weren't for the Fields Medal… If it weren't for the Fields Medal… we wouldn't have lost the kind, intelligent, beautiful Vera."

"Calm down." Professor Fefferman patted the old man and sighed. He was also in pain, but he said, "Think about it from another perspective, if we didn't give her this award, we might have never gotten another opportunity to give her this honor. You should be glad you voted for her."

"I guess that's right…"

The atmosphere outside the ward was depressing.

The atmosphere in the ward was also full of sadness.

Lu Zhou sat on the stool by the bed in which Vera lay unconscious. He stayed silent for a long time.

After a while, the doctor broke the silence.

"Sir, visiting hours is over."

Lu Zhou looked at the doctor and spoke in a calm tone.

"Can you tell me what's wrong with her?"

Doctor: "Are you her relative?"

Lu Zhou shook his head.

Doctor: "Then I'm afraid I'm not allowed to disclose the patient's information to you. We have contacted her immediate family, they will be here soon."

Lu Zhou nodded.

He took a final look at Vera's pale face and spoke.

"I will take care of you.

"Trust me.

"I don't know if you can hear me… but please don't give up."

Lu Zhou was speaking in Chinese, so the doctor didn't understand him. The doctor spoke again.

"Sir?"

"… Nothing."

Lu Zhou stood up from his stool and left the ward.

It didn't matter if the doctor refused to tell him Vera's condition, he had his own way of finding out things.

That was easy for him.

As for the medical costs, he had more money than he knew what to do with. He was willing to spend any amount it took.

As for her medical information privacy…

That was a right only conscious people had.

If she really cared about such trivial matters, Lu Zhou could just apologize when she woke up.

…

Professor Fefferman saw Lu Zhou come out of the ward. He immediately stood up and asked, "How is Miss Pulyuy doing?"

Lu Zhou: "She's still in a coma… it's not looking good."

"Oh my, this is…" Professor Fefferman sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped them. He didn't know what to say.

The old professor sitting next to him suddenly stood up and grabbed Lu Zhou's hand.

"Please tell the doctor to cure her, no matter what disease she has! If this is about money… I can take it from my pension. If something happens to her, it will be a great loss to the mathematics world… please!"

Lu Zhou nodded toward the old professor and looked confidently at him.

"Don't worry.

"I know what to do."

Lu Zhou and Wang Peng began walking toward the stairs.

When he reached the stairs, he heard someone shout.

It seemed like the old professor, Shigefumi Mori, was arguing with someone.

"You can't do this, her life doesn't only belong to her, her knowledge—

"I don't care whether it's the Fields Medal or the Nobel Prize, if she's so important to you guys, why don't you pay for the treatment!"

Standing across from Shigefumi Mori was a middle-aged man around six feet two inches tall.

He had a beer belly and a scruffy beard, indicating his poor lifestyle. His brown leather jacket and stained jeans looked like he just got off a motorcycle.

Standing in front of this huge man, Shigefumi Mori felt even smaller.

He tried to appease the grumpy man.

"We will definitely contribute some—"

The tall man interrupted him and said, "Accept the reality, you've read the diagnosis, she can't be saved!"

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

"Who said that?"

The burly man turned his head and squinted at the young man.

"Who are you? Mind your own business."

Lu Zhou walked up and looked at the document on the table.

Iric… Pulyuy.

That's probably the man's name.

Judging by his name, he was Vera's relative. However, his tall and large figure was the complete opposite of Vera's slim figure.

Lu Zhou looked at the first few lines of the document.

[Consent form to forgo treatment…]

Lu Zhou frowned and looked at the man towering above him.

"You plan on forgoing treatment? What gives you the right to do that?"

"I'm her father, I brought her to this world, of course I have this right!" Iric lifted his chin and said, "I'm not going to let her suffer, I want to end her pain."

Shigefumi Mori said, "You don't have to pay anything. Miss Pulyuy has a sizable amount in her savings. The Fields Medal prize also has an award of 15 thousand Canadian dollars, which can be used for her treatment. We can also start a fundraiser—"

Suddenly, the man squinted.

A flash of greed appeared in his eyes.

"She has savings?

"Which bank?"

Lu Zhou noticed the greed in the man's eyes, and he suddenly realized what was going on.

This was why Vera was struggling financially when she was at Princeton, even though she had a good salary.

He finally realized why she never talked about her family, never even mentioning her middle name…

Even though Lu Zhou knew that anger would only make the situation worse, he couldn't help it.

"F*cking pathetic…"

Everything froze.

The man looked at him with a dangerous look.

"What did you say, kid? Say it again."

"I said you're pathetic." Lu Zhou stared at the man and said, "I would be ashamed to have a father like you. You bring shame to the Pulyuy name."

Iric's face turned red, like he was about to explode.

He cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists. He took a step toward Lu Zhou as a nurse came up and tried to persuade him.

"Do you want to die!

"You're nothing more than a tiny bug, I can squash you with one hand!"

Lu Zhou suddenly spoke.

"Sound fun, how about… you try me?"

Iric was faced with a challenge.

Iric knew he wouldn't win a debate with Lu Zhou, so he threw a fist toward Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou didn't have the slightest fear on his face. He didn't even try to dodge the punch.

The punch was quite fast, he might not have been able to dodge it.

But it was no match for his professional bodyguard…

When Iric saw his fist getting closer and closer to Lu Zhou's stinky face, he had a malevolent smile.

Someone dares to call me pathetic?

No one in the town of Nosovka would dare to say such things to me.

I swear I'm going to break this guy's jaw.

However, when his fist was getting close to Lu Zhou's face, a huge wave of force hit his elbow joint.

He heard a click, then felt a blow to his abdomen. He flew across the floor.

Duang!

His body crashed into a trash can.

A security guard heard the nurse's scream.

Wang Peng stretched his wrist and looked at the man lying on the ground. He spoke in fluent Russian.

"There's no need to throw hands."

Even though Lu Zhou was the one that provoked Iric…

Wang Peng didn't care.

Iric couldn't feel his right hand. He got up and shouted, "You're finished! How dare you hit me! I'm going to end you! Ouch—"

It seemed like Wang Peng was being merciful.

If Wang Peng had struck his throat or kneecaps instead of kicking him in the belly, Iric would be in the emergency room by now.

Lu Zhou ignored the man screaming on the ground. He picked up the treatment consent form and tore it to pieces.

He was about to throw it in a trash can when he caught a glimpse of a piece of paper that fell to the ground.

It looked like it fell out of the chubby man's pocket.

By the looks of it, it seemed like a medical certificate.

The security guards had surrounded the scene. People from the Federal Security Service had also arrived, and they were talking to Wang Peng.

Lu Zhou picked up the piece of paper that fell out of Iric's pocket.

When he read the paper, his heart dropped to his stomach.

Lung cancer.

Stage 4.

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Chapter 1023 I"ll Find A Way

Lu Zhou was standing in the pure white system space, staring at his inventory, quietly thinking about something.

After he read Vera's diagnosis an hour ago, he went into the system space. Even though he didn't know why he came here, his intuition told him that this was the only place to save her.

Stage 4 cancer…

From what Lu Zhou could tell, other than a misdiagnosis, there was no cure for this.

But he knew that cancer cells wouldn't be a problem for an advanced civilization with high biotechnology.

However, the situation wasn't as optimistic as he had thought.

Nitrogen shield?

That is no use.

Energy Medicine?

She needs rest, not some steroids.

There are some memory pills left…

But those are obviously no use.

Easter egg?

Lu Zhou saw the colorful Easter egg lying in the inventory and nearly chuckled.

This is the least useful thing I've ever gotten from the system…

Okay, one of the least useful.

Lu Zhou closed his inventory and looked at his characteristic panel.

Normally speaking, the survival time for patients with stage 4 cancer was around 3-12 months.

Of course, if the patient was in good health and cooperated with treatment, they would be able to survive longer. There were cases of patients with advanced lung cancer, surviving for more than seven years.

However, that was only seven years.

And the process of chemotherapy throughout the seven years was excruciating.

If that was the case, maybe her father was right.

It would be better to end the suffering.

However, her father had ulterior motives behind all this…

Lu Zhou closed his inventory, and his consciousness returned to the real world.

He stared at his hotel room ceiling and took a deep breath as he tightly clenched his fists.

I am a man of my word.

Even if the system can't help me…

I will save her!

…

Lu Zhou opened the door, walking out of his room.

He saw Wang Peng in the corridor, who had already returned from the hospital. He spoke.

"How serious is it?"

Wang Peng: "You're talking about?"

Lu Zhou: "The fight."

Wang Peng smiled and said, "No big deal."

Lu Zhou: "What about Iric?"

Wang Peng: "He was warned by the Federal Security Service and left. He said he is going to sue you, but I think he's just bluffing."

Looks like everything is fine then.

Lu Zhou nodded and reached out his hand.

"Lend me your phone."

Wang Peng knew what Lu Zhou wanted. From his inner jacket pocket, he took out the phone Maksim gave Lu Zhou when Lu Zhou first arrived in Russia.

Lu Zhou pressed a speed dial button on the phone.

The phone was soon connected.

"You're already calling me? What's wrong?"

Lu Zhou: "I need a favor."

Maksim: "With the hospital?"

Lu Zhou: "… How did you know?"

Maksim: "Of course, we've already arranged her to be transferred to the best hospital in Moscow. She will be transferred as soon as her condition stabilizes."

This was the least they could do in return for Lu Zhou helping them with the fusion power station.

Apparently, the Federal Security Service investigated the Russian power grid system and found malicious code that was implanted a long time ago.

Regardless, it was nice of Maksim to return the favor.

Lu Zhou paused for a second and said, "Since you're so happy to help, can you do something else for me?"

Moscow frowned and said, "What do you need… Even the best hospital in Moscow can only slow down her condition and reduce her pain. A complete recovery is impossible even if you put her in the best hospital in the world."

If this were stage 2, there would still be hope.

But stage 4…

This was a medical problem faced by the entire global medical community, it couldn't be solved by one single hospital.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to cure her." Lu Zhou sighed and said, "After her condition stabilizes, transfer her to Beijing."

Maksim: "Beijing?"

Lu Zhou nodded.

"Yeah, I'll find a way."

…

The conference continued as scheduled.

But there was a dull atmosphere in the venue.

Especially after Vera's report in the morning, most of the listeners couldn't concentrate on the report. People were discussing the matter during lunch time at the buffet.

"Do you know what she has?"

"Apparently, it's leukemia."

"Leukemia? Vomiting blood? I heard it's gastric cancer… terminal cancer!"

"Really?"

"Not sure, just a rumor. Also, apparently, Shigefumi Mori and her father got into a fight because her father wanted to forgo treatment and take the 15,000 prize money for himself."

"Jesus, all of this for just 15,000 Canadian dollars… Is he even a father? I'm sure Vera's salary at Princeton is more than a hundred thousand USD a year."

"You can never underestimate the greediness of a Russian alcoholic. Perhaps he thinks that his daughter's savings will belong to him."

"Hey, not all Russians are greedy."

"Sorry, I apologize…"

"…"

Lu Zhou quietly ate his lunch, ignoring the discussion around him.

Schultz sat across from him. Schultz wanted to give him a few words of comfort, but after seeing how Lu Zhou was in deep thought, he decided against talking and quietly ate his lunch.

When Lu Zhou nearly finished eating, Schultz suddenly spoke.

"The news is on MathOverflow… I saw a picture posted by someone. You fought someone at the hospital?"

Lu Zhou: "My driver was the one fighting, the other guy attacked first."

Schultz: "You should explain yourself to them then."

"There's nothing to explain." Lu Zhou wiped his mouth with a napkin and threw the napkin into a trash can. He stood up and said, "I don't have time to deal with those sheep."

Cancer had plagued human civilization for thousands of years, and it was far more difficult than solving a mathematics problem.

However, Lu Zhou had two options.

Lu Zhou didn't stay at the cafeteria for too long. He went straight to the temporary office of the International Mathematical Union. The Secretary-General of the organization committee went to eat lunch, but his assistant was here.

The assistant saw that Lu Zhou was knocking on the door. He put down his utensils and wiped his mouth.

"Dear Professor Lu, how can I help you?"

"It's fine, you can continue eating, I'm just here to ask a question," Lu Zhou said. "Is the whiteboard from lecture hall 7 still here?"

The assistant quickly responded.

"It's here… but the lecture hall was suspended after the incident."

Lu Zhou: "Can I look at it?"

The assistant was a little troubled.

"The Secretary-General wants to close off the lecture hall, wait for the conference to be over, and communicate with the hotel on the incident… If you want to see the content on the whiteboard, the report is recorded, you can—"

Lu Zhou spoke again, and this time, he spoke in a demanding tone.

"Take me to see it, I'll explain to the Secretary-General."

The assistant hesitated for a bit before nodding.

"Oh… okay."

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Chapter 1024 The Question of the Century

The door opened with a creaking sound.

The silent atmosphere of the lecture hall was chilling.

The venue seemed to have captured the chaos from yesterday. Papers were randomly scattered on the ground, even the chair he knocked over was still lying on the floor.

Lu Zhou thought back to yesterday, the scene that made his heart drop…

Seeing how Lu Zhou was staring blankly at the lecture hall, the assistant didn't want to disturb him. However, the assistant remembered his half-finished lunch, so he took a deep breath and said, "If you want to stay here for longer, make sure to close the door later. Do you want to key?"

"Sure."

Lu Zhou took the key and nodded. He said, "I'll return it to Professor Helge Holden, you can go."

Professor Helge Holden was the Secretary-General of the International Mathematical Union and one of the main people in charge of the conference organization committee. He was responsible for venue scheduling and handling emergency situations.

The assistant was relieved to hear that Lu Zhou would speak to Helge Holden himself. Without saying anything, the assistant turned around and left.

The atmosphere in the lecture hall made Lu Zhou feel depressed.

Especially the dried bloodstains on the whiteboard.

He didn't want to stay here for one second longer.

After the assistant left, Lu Zhou walked into the lecture hall and turned on the lights. He closed the door and walked toward the stage.

It pained him to see the dried bloodstains on the whiteboard.

However, what hurt him the most was the lines of equations on the whiteboard.

As an expert mathematician, he was well aware of the effort and hard work necessary to create these research results. This would have taken him at least a couple of weeks to do.

Lu Zhou had no idea how Vera was able to survive the past year with a disease dragging her down.

However, after seeing these equations, Lu Zhou finally realized why she was hiding from him.

Maybe when she found out about her condition, she was already incurable. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to hide this…

After all, the early symptoms of cancer were similar to many common diseases. Not to mention she wasn't in good physical health, it was difficult to detect the cancer from ordinary medical examinations.

And once the symptoms appeared…

It was too late.

That was the cause of death for 70% of cancer patients.

But…

"… Why does it have to be her?"

Is this the curse of winning the Fields Medal?

Lu Zhou stared at the calculations on the whiteboard and took a deep breath. His eyes were filled with determination.

The probability of receiving a cancer-curing drug from the system for solving Riemann's hypothesis was too low. Instead, maybe solving Riemann's hypothesis would improve the patient's mood and somehow destroy the cancer cells.

Lu Zhou never relied on solving problems using the system mission rewards.

The true value of the high tech system wasn't in the rewards, but the missions itself!

According to the system's instructions, after he finished his current task, he had the option to continue working on the mission chain or to choose three new random missions. And these random missions were often related to problems he was currently facing.

Basically, these missions were like a scientific research guidance tool. It analyzed Lu Zhou's social status, resources, and environment, giving him missions that had the highest rate of return.

There was a 90% chance for a cancer-related mission to appear.

Even though he was lacking in biological knowledge, scientific research wasn't done by one man alone. The Institute for Advanced Study could help him.

Not to mention, he had a ton of money.

Money itself was also a superpower.

Especially in the hands of a scientist that knew how to spend money.

Taking everything into account, he had pretty good odds.

If all of this failed…

Then that meant this research project was beyond the capabilities of current human technologies.

Lu Zhou took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.

"Your work is unfinished.

"I'll finish it for you…"

Lu Zhou had completely calmed down; he had entered a flow state.

This was one of the few times he could truly devote himself to one problem.

He first had this feeling when he attended a Princeton academic conference several years ago.

Back then, he had to rely on the system to achieve this kind of flow state, but now, all it took was 10 seconds of meditation.

Suddenly, the numbers and characters on the whiteboard seemed to have come to life. The equations were like notes on a music sheet, forming a symphony of mathematics.

There was no audience.

There wasn't even a musician.

However, Lu Zhou could clearly hear the music in his ears. It felt like he had traveled back in time, back to that classroom in Princeton.

"I see…"

Lu Zhou looked at the calculations on the whiteboard and nodded silently.

The disorderly written equations on the whiteboard was part of Vera's unpublished and unfinished research.

Most of the objects on the whiteboard were purely concepts and ideas, an image, an equation. It needed the rigor of mathematics to fully convey the concept to an audience…

However, Vera was Lu Zhou's student, so he was able to decrypt the code.

Not to mention, he was in a flow state.

"… The expansion of [ζ(z)]-1/2[ζ(z)]-1/2=Σnαnn-z becomes truncated, introducing the series φ(z)=Σnβnn, taking the modulate integrand of the formula.

"No wonder my research was in a bottleneck. My attention was fixated on complicated mathematical tools like the hyperelliptic curve analysis method and trying to introduce differentiable manifolds into complex planes. I ignored the fundamentals."

No wonder Chen Yang, who he poached from the Yan University mathematics center, was able to greatly improve Lu Zhou's thesis.

Lu Zhou didn't realize this, but he had committed one of the biggest crimes in mathematics. Which was the "proof is trivial" crime. This was akin to building a skyscraper without having the right foundation.

"I made a huge mistake. If I didn't stop lecturing, I would have never made this mistake… But now is not the time to make excuses.

"Also, Vera, your ideas are novel, but there are some problems in the details. Like when you selected the value of N in Equation 8, and when you introduced the differential manifold into the complex plane abstract space.

"I would do this instead…"

There were plenty of whiteboards in the lecture hall.

Lu Zhou walked in front of an empty whiteboard and picked up a pen. He began transferring his thoughts onto the whiteboard.

It was as if time and space were frozen.

Nothing else in the world mattered.

This was the calm before the storm.

And a big storm was brewing…

Lu Zhou stood in this lecture hall for a long time, for more than an hour.

If he got hungry, he still had supplements he could take in the system space.

If he got tired, he could take some Energy Medicine.

He had been stuck in this maze for too long; this was the closest he had ever gotten to escaping.

If he gave up now…

Who knew when he would be able to come this close again.

Time quickly passed by. Lu Zhou had no idea how many days it had been. His attention was fully focused on the half a dozen fully-filled whiteboards.

Finally, Lu Zhou saw a trace of light at the end of the tunnel.

Lu Zhou's pupils expanded and contracted.

He didn't cheer or scream.

He was as calm as a cucumber.

He felt relieved.

"I see…

"No wonder this troubled people for more than a century and a half.

"This isn't something that can be solved by talent and knowledge alone."

Who would have thought that the eight-page paper from the Prussian Academy of Sciences would have plagued so many great scholars.

The countless mathematical propositions that assumed Riemann's hypothesis was true, had become theorems.

Today, more than 150 years later, someone finally answered Riemann's question.

Yes, Professor Riemann was correct.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then, he looked at the security camera in the corner of the lecture hall and spoke.

"Xiao Ai.

"Tidy up the things on the whiteboard.

"Upload it to arXiv."

He knew that Xiao Ai had been silently watching him over the past few days.

He knew that the reason the lecture hall door hadn't been opened was thanks to Xiao Ai. Xiao Ai was able to create fake emails and divert the security guards.

As expected, a series of text bubbles appeared on his phone.

[Okay! (๑•̀ᄇ•́) و]

[Congratulations, Master!]

After that, Lu Zhou took a bottle of Energy Medicine from the system space and took a sip.

He hadn't slept in three days, and he was in no hurry to sleep.

He sat on the podium and stared at the eight whiteboards.

He just wanted to sit here and listen to his heart…

Then, he would make his next decision.

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