After thodically finishing everything, he put down the notebook, just about to switch back to the movie, when the door behind him was suddenly pushed open.
George Garcia didn't even have to turn around before he caught a strong, distinctive sll—a leafy, greasy odor...
Alright, it must be his dear colleague coming back from a date.
"Hey, George, nothing's wrong, right?"
"Hm, nothing much. But you… you're cutting it closer and closer every ti." George Garcia glanced at the ti and grumbled under his breath in annoyance.
"Haha… Jealous, are you? Jenny brought sothing nice, and I saved a bit just for you. Want a taste?"
"Why not?"
With that, George Garcia casually accepted the lighter handed over by the person across from him. Thankfully, he didn't forget to say, "Go open the window!"
...
Huaxia, Xilin University of Technology, Xilin Institute of Mathematics.
Li Chengze was once again seated in Qiao Ze's office. However, he didn't directly convey the decision from the higher-ups but rather tentatively said, "Professor Qiao, the minister hopes to talk with you personally. Through a video call, to be precise."
"Oh, sure." Qiao Ze responded calmly, as always, unhurried, without arrogance or emotion.
Thanks to the all-powerful internet, the Capital and Xilin could stay closely connected despite the thousands of miles apart.
More conveniently, the Xilin Institute of Mathematics was already a classified unit and had encrypted communication lines. As for coincidence, the latest encryption technologies just so happened to fall under the institute's research domain.
Very soon, the image of an elderly man appeared on Qiao Ze's computer screen.
"Hello, Professor Qiao. Although this is our first eting, I've heard a lot about you for a long ti now."
"Hello." Qiao Ze replied succinctly.
Evidently, the elderly man was familiar with Qiao Ze's personality. After a brief greeting, he went straight to today's discussion topic.
"I trust Chengze has already filled you in on the situation. This war ga project—also known as the Shenji Project—is a key initiative under the Equipnt Departnt's jurisdiction. Of course, to be honest, I don't understand the technical aspects, so my purpose today is not to discuss technical issues with you."
The old man spoke slowly.
Qiao Ze didn't respond, simply watching the screen, lost in his thoughts.
Then, the two of them spoke almost simultaneously before stopping at the sa ti.
"So…"
"I don't have a problem with it…"
"It's fine, you go first." The elderly man chuckled and said.
Qiao Ze spoke up: "I have no issue technically, nor emotionally. If you're planning to spend so ti reverse-engineering , I think it's unnecessary."
"Haha… reverse-engineering…"
Hearing this analogy, the old man let out a hearty laugh, then said, "No, that's not what I ant. Actually, I've already agreed to let the Xilin Institute of Mathematics—or rather, you—lead this project in the future. As for why I wanted to chat with you, it's purely out of curiosity.
You probably don't know how many people have ntioned you to . Soone outright told that if anyone in this world could perfectly accomplish the Shenji Project, it would undoubtedly be you. So I'm very curious about you. I just wanted to have a casual conversation, like friends.
Of course, you could see it as being genuinely curious about your thoughts and everything about you. I've looked into your experiences in detail. Truly, I even admire you. Back when your accomplishnts weren't nearly as prominent as they are today, many foreign universities and research institutes extended invitations to you, yet you turned them all down. Can you tell what your thoughts were?"
This must be the step of deciphering the code before the reverse-engineering process...
Qiao Ze thought silently. Though it felt sowhat tedious, considering the project itself seed interesting, he decided to humor the conversation for a mont.
"Because I like Huaxia."
"Like?"
"Yes. After I learned how to read, my favorite activity was reading storybooks—fairy tales, myths, wuxia stories, especially myths."
"Oh? Just because Huaxia's myths were more captivating to you?"
"No. I believe the mythos of a nation reflects the temperant of its people. In Huaxia's mythological system, there's Nvwa nding the heavens—when the sky breaks, we nd it ourselves; Da Yu controlling the floods—when floods co, we figure out how to channel them; Shennong tasting herbs—when we're sick, we find our own cure; Hou Yi shooting down the sun—it's too hot, we shoot down the sun, and so on. There are many similar myths.
I admire this kind of collective national spirit. Pangu splits the heavens and the earth with an axe, standing tall and proud. Therefore, I don't have much affection for the flippant 'Let there be light,' and there was light explanation; nor do I care for Protheus bringing fire to mankind—that narrative feels contrived, as do those myths filled with artificial and pretentious love stories."
The old man was stunned.
He couldn't have anticipated that Qiao Ze would give him this kind of explanation.
In fact, he had planned to ask next why Qiao Ze was unwilling to co to the Capital. But after hearing this response, he suddenly didn't feel the need anymore.
Because upon reflection, this kind of temperant really seed to suit Qiao Ze perfectly.
When lacking sothing, find your own solution...
The resources in Xilin City obviously couldn't compare to those in a tropolis like the Capital. Yet, in just a year, Qiao Ze had managed to acquire resources in Xilin as substantial as he might have in the Capital—perhaps even more so.
After all, if he were to move to the Capital, even if he wanted to establish his own mathematics research institute, he wouldn't be able to secure substantial support all at once. But staying in Xilin was different. It had already been rumored that the city was pooling its entire resources to et Qiao Ze's needs.
Of course, Xilin must have gained even more in the process.
From this perspective, Qiao Ze's hotown Xingcheng turned out to be the biggest loser. After all, Xingcheng had its share of excellent universities. If they had realized earlier and managed to retain Qiao Ze… Well, brilliant talent is much easier to find than those who recognize it early on...
"Haha, makes sense. I'm suddenly curious—around what age did you begin encountering these mythical stories? Elentary school?"
"Kindergarten. By the senior and advanced levels, I found nurical patterns to be more fascinating than text structures."
"Kindergarten, huh…" The old man realized that it was indeed difficult to find common ground for conversation.
Recalling events from kindergarten—it's notably challenging to connect on that level. How many ordinary people have their core philosophies shaped during kindergarten, and by mythological stories, no less? Looking for shared topics here was genuinely tough.
"So, do you feel confident about completing the Shenji Project?"
"Based on the information I've seen, it doesn't seem difficult. But I think the project might benefit from incorporating a few additional elents."
"Additional elents?"
"Yes. After reviewing the project report, considering it's a war ga system, I believe real-ti holographic display technology should be integrated. Paired with detailed mapping data, we could display large-scale 3D maps and troop deploynt configurations during simulations in real ti. This would allow commanders to grasp the situation more intuitively and make inford decisions."
"Incorporate holographic display technology?" The elderly man instinctively repeated.
"Yes. Advances in matter wave theory have made progress. Light-field capturing and processing techniques can evolve based on our theoretical breakthroughs; precise control over light-field materials, with established material prototypes, could lead to rapid advancents, greatly enhancing both resolution and image stability across wide viewing angles.
The advent of photolithography factories now theoretically gives us technology to precisely control lightwaves at multiple wavelengths, significantly improving color reproduction and image stability. What remains is to overco rapidly adjustable interference patterns and adaptive optics for fluctuating environntal conditions. Once achieved, dynamic holographic imaging becos possible.
Moreover, leveraging my Quantum Entanglent Theory, it's theoretically feasible to use non-classical light fields generated through quantum entanglent as a complent. Since quantum states can be engineered to effectively possess wavelengths smaller than optical ones, in other words, if computational power suffices, even dynamic holographic displays could achieve extrely high resolution alongside both accuracy and efficiency."
Qiao Ze explained concisely.
After a mont's thought, he added, "Of course, to fully implent this technology, a supporting computational frawork is necessary. The bio-supercomputing project jointly researched by Xilin Institute of Mathematics and the three institutes in the Capital is better suited to provide the computational power for holographic displays. It might be worth considering establishing a bio-supercomputing facility near the Shenji War Ga Center to enhance the overall system's performance and fluency."
The old man was dumbstruck…
Apparently, Qiao Ze had his own ideas.
Could this be his way of taking soone else's design and, finding it not challenging enough, deciding to increase the difficulty?
After a mont of contemplation, the old man spoke, "I don't understand the specifics of the technology, but I'm entrusting this project to you. Li Chengze will stay by your side to liaise with the project team throughout its duration. How about that?"
Qiao Ze glanced at the upright Li Chengze standing beside him, considered for a mont, and then nodded, "Alright."
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