Break out of the courtyard

Although media outlets such as Peace Media and Rediffusion Television reported on the first day of the genius training camp, the nature of the learning world in the virtual dream remains a mystery.

Zhang Heping said this morning that building bicycles is a simple task.

In reality, once you understand the functions of the library, factory, warehouse, and laboratory inside, it's actually quite simple.

Designing a bicycle, finding raw materials, 3D printing parts, and assembling it – these are the four steps Zhang Bei and his team followed, and Zhang Yi and his team taught them the same way.

Although Cao Jian was eliminated, Zhang Yi and the others still made one more car.

After two hundred similar bicycles were built, the scarecrow players rode them around.

It wasn't until 7 p.m. that Zhang Bei advised everyone to leave the virtual dream world and go back to rest early, so that they wouldn't be in bad shape the next day and be eliminated like Cao Jian.

After the 199 teenagers were released, they were not allowed to leave immediately. It was only after the medical staff on duty asked about their physical condition and no one reported any abnormalities that they were allowed to leave.

"Zhang Bei, what do you think the mission will be tomorrow?" He Peng, a grandson of the He family, asked casually, which attracted the attention of a group of young people behind him!
"I don't know!" Zhang Bei yawned and reminded everyone again, "Everyone, go back and get some rest so you won't have trouble getting up tomorrow morning."

Zhang Nan added from the side, "If any of you feel unwell, go to the nearby hospital for treatment. There's no point in hiding it."

"Don't worry, Sister Nan!" Guo Jinglan, the seventh young lady of the Guo family, rubbed her temples and forced a smile. "We just have a bit of a headache right now, but everything else is fine."

"We spent four days and four nights in the virtual dream world, but only 10 hours passed outside!" exclaimed a member of the Rong family. "If this kind of learning equipment were made available in schools, it's hard to imagine how heavy the students' learning tasks would be!"

The sixth young master of the Guo family scoffed, "Only a slacker would have such a thought. Ask the geniuses next to you whether they feel the workload is too heavy or they feel that this way of learning is more efficient!"

After saying goodbye to these wealthy third-generation individuals, the Zhang siblings did not immediately get into the car to go home. Instead, they accompanied Zhang Yi and escorted the 134 mainland teenagers to the Peace Hotel.

As for the others, they went back to their homes in Pingba with the people who had picked them up.

As soon as these people left the library, news of the interior of the virtual learning dream quickly spread.

Once the Omega Group learned that the virtual learning dream contained a 3D printing factory and a medical laboratory, which might involve the Peace Group's cutting-edge technology, these guys couldn't wait to urgently recruit the other six teenagers who had passed the second and third rounds of assessments.

Unfortunately, the registration period for the genius training camp had already passed, and even when they went to Zhang Heping to discuss it the next day, they were only met with a cold rejection.

February 2nd, 9:2 AM, 1st floor of the library at Peace College.

Zhang Heping didn't say much today. After leaving today's tasks on the whiteboard, he let the 191 teenagers enter the learning pod.

Eight third-generation rich kids didn't show up this morning, which didn't surprise Zhang Heping much.

The fact that those three generations of descendants were able to persevere until the end yesterday was partly due to the influence of their family members waiting outside, but also because of their novelty and excitement about the virtual dream world.

The key issue is that if they quit the game before Zhang Bei and Zhang Nan, it might be seen as disrespectful.

If we upset the Zhang family, it will inevitably affect the business of the family that left early!
After the 191 teenagers entered the virtual learning dream, most of them didn't move, waiting for the scarecrow leaders with little red flags on their heads to hold a meeting.

The small flags on the straw hats were made by them yesterday. The red flags represent management, the yellow flags represent mainlanders, the light yellow flags represent the three Hong Kong Island teenagers, and the blue flags represent foreigners.

"Today's task is to build a mech for transportation. Is it just one, or does everyone need one?" The female squad leader, whose name was Li Tong and whose head was covered by a small red flag, asked the question that had been on many people's minds.

Zhang Bei, Zhang Yi, Zhang Long, and other members of the Zhang family all looked up at the atrium above, speculating about the future use of the mecha, which might also involve checking information on the upper floors.

"Does the library have mecha data?" Xie Wan asked, looking at the foreign scarecrows with blue flags on their heads. "Could it involve classified information?"

Someone in the brain-computer interface research team suggested, "Why don't we kick them out and let them fend for themselves? With just a few of them, it will be difficult for them to complete the tasks assigned by Director Zhang."

Zhang Bei glanced at the others and said, "The information is right there. Unless you can stop them from checking the information and avoid being blamed by my father afterward, you can't stop them from looking at the so-called classified information!"

One of the scarecrows chimed in quietly, "Actually, it's better not to kick them. We can assign them physical labor, and let our own people do the mental work."

However, before Zhang Bei and Zhang Yi could reach a conclusion, the seven foreign scarecrows with blue flags on their heads and the three Hong Kong boy scarecrows with light yellow flags on their heads had already gone to the nearby information machine to look for information related to the mecha.

"This machine can only access basic mechanical books. If you want to look up mecha information, you have to go to floors 2 through 10!" A blue-flag scarecrow spoke in eagle language, not looking up at the endless circular atrium above, but at the Frenchman Pierre next to him.

Pierre, a French boy with a blue flag bearing a long string of names, walked outside decisively after reading the message on the information kiosk screen, ignoring the American man watching him.

"Pierre, where are you going?" The American Scarecrow hurriedly followed. "I know you speak English, how about we team up?"

"Judging from their hushed meeting, they've already excluded us. They probably won't be taking us on the mission today!"

Pierre the Scarecrow didn't reply. He got on the bicycle he had built himself yesterday and headed straight for the storage area on the left.

The intelligence from the Americans said that Pierre was a withdrawn boy, but Zhang Bei and Zhang Yi observed that the foreign lad was actually quite arrogant.

Yesterday, this French boy followed behind the group, quietly looked around the storage area on the left and the 3D printing factory on the right, then went to the storage area to find some materials, took them to the 3D printing factory, and made a simple little trailer, similar to the two-wheeled trailers that the aunties use to buy groceries.

Then, he was seen using that small trailer to go to the storage area and bring back more raw materials.

I never saw him draw any design drawings. He just stayed by a set of 3D printing equipment and made the parts one by one.

The assembled product is the aluminum alloy bicycle with a rear support that Pierre is now riding.

In contrast, the chattering American teenager chasing after them was riding a bicycle that he had secretly pieced together from scraps, following behind the mainland scarecrow.

Therefore, it's normal for Pierre to look down on this American teenager.

After Zhang Bei and Zhang Yi finished discussing and assigning tasks to each group, they had just stepped outside when they saw the French scarecrow riding back on a bicycle with a bright silver ladder placed across the back seat.

"Please move aside!" Scarecrow Pierre shouted in broken Chinese, then slowed down and walked around Zhang Yi and his group.

"There are two hooks at one end of that ladder!" a scarecrow said, pointing to Pierre's departing figure. "He wanted to use the hooks at the top of the ladder to hook onto the railing of the floor above and then climb up!"

“Once he climbs to the second floor, he can use this ladder to hook onto the safety railing on the third floor.” A scarecrow chimed in, “As long as this ladder is sturdy enough, just one ladder will be enough to help him climb to the top floor!”

"Impossible!" the scarecrow beside him retorted. "Look at our current bodies; they simply can't support such a large amount of up-and-down movement!"

"No matter what, that kind of ladder is a good option for going upstairs!" While some objected, others naturally agreed.

The discussion among the others naturally reached Zhang Bei and Zhang Yi's ears.

However, what they are now pondering is whether taking those hundred-plus gifted teenagers to the factory to start making mechs directly goes against Zhang Heping's original intention in establishing the genius training camp.
……

As the young people went in and out of the learning pods, noon arrived before they knew it.

When Hua Lao saw Zhang Heping come out of the computer room, he led Director Wang and Cao Jian's mother to greet him.

"He Ping, we want to discuss something with you!" Old Hua walked to Zhang Heping's side with a smile and walked out with him.

Seeing that Zhang Heping did not speak, Elder Hua directly stated his purpose: "Do you think we can give Cao Jian another chance to enter the genius training camp?"

"Consultant Zhang, I beg you to give my son another chance!" Cao Jian's mother clasped her hands together and pleaded from behind, "The doctor said that as long as my son can continue to use the virtual dream learning pod, it is very likely that his autism can be cured."

"Which doctor said that?" Zhang Heping said indifferently, "How dare they question my treatment plan!"

"Your treatment plan?" Cao Jian's mother was somewhat bewildered, wondering if the treatment Zhang Heping mentioned was related to her son, Cao Jian.

Hua Lao knew that Zhang Heping disliked beating around the bush, so he asked directly, "Heping, what do you mean by that?"

"The little guy is very talented, but he's too withdrawn and not suitable to stay in the learning pod any longer!" Zhang Heping explained to Elder Hua and the others as he walked out.

"There's accelerated perception in virtual dreams; I don't think I need to explain that!"

With no questions raised, Zhang Heping continued, "Yesterday, I only used 10x speed."

"But Cao built a ladder to the second floor, which triggered the double superposition of perception speed on that floor, that is, 10 times 2, or 20 times acceleration!"

"Although the virtual dream doesn't change time, this perceptual illusion makes him feel that time flies by!"

"Cao Jian already has autism. If he is left alone in a state of 20 times or even 200 times the time of the illusion, will it make him even more autistic?"

Hua Lao thought about the time difference; one day was equivalent to 20 days, which was 20 times faster and made Cao Jian even more withdrawn.

"Consultant Zhang!" Cao Jian's mother still didn't give up. "Can I accompany my son into the learning pod? I just heard that there are nine learning pods available today."

Cao Jian's mother had her own understanding, believing that her son's significant improvement was due to hearing that Zhang Heping was going to give Sucheng a library and virtual dream learning equipment.

Therefore, she didn't want to miss any possibility.

Zhang Heping stopped, frowned, and looked at the self-righteous woman. "If you don't believe me, you can go find a learning pod to enter the dream world and then spend an afternoon on the second floor of the library."

"Thank you, Consultant Zhang, I..." Before Cao Jian's mother could finish speaking, Zhang Heping raised his right hand to stop her from saying anything more.

“I’m talking about a real afternoon, which is 5 hours. If you stay for the full time and think your son’s body can handle it, I’ll send your son here to die!” After Zhang Heping finished speaking, he called a bodyguard over to take the man to the learning pod.

As for how she'll get to the second floor, well, she can ask that herself in her dream!
Director Wang noticed Zhang Heping's tone was off and knew the boy was being stubborn again, so he quickly tried to smooth things over, "Heping, don't blame Cao Jian's mother, she's just worried!"

"Yesterday, after Mr. Hua and his colleagues returned to the Shenzhen Peace Academy, they took Cao Jian to the neighboring hospital for a check-up."

"When Professor Hua was talking to Vice President Qian and Vice President Deng about virtual learning dreams at the hospital, Cao Jian took the initiative to chime in with a couple of sentences, which made Cao Jian's mother extremely happy."

“You are a top expert in the medical field, you should know how much of a positive change such a move is for an autistic child and their family.”

"I spent the whole morning working hard in the computer room, and in the end I still have to explain these trivial matters to you!" Zhang Heping shook his head helplessly. "Let Cao Jian gain weight, let him take the exam again next year, and give them a set of virtual dream learning equipment in Suzhou. That's my treatment plan!"

"Don't even think about entering the virtual dream world again if you don't gain weight!"

"Let him take the exam again next year. This gives him hope and a goal to strive for!"

"The reason we didn't give him the virtual dream learning device separately, but instead gave it to the Suzhou City Library, is because this device won't activate accelerated perception. It's meant to allow him to interact with more people in his dreams!"

“If you are willing, you can also arrange for someone to enter his dreams and ask him questions from time to time, seeking his help, thereby speeding up his treatment.”

After Zhang Heping's explanation, the group arrived at the convoy parked next to the library.

After a brief farewell, Zhang Heping got into his car and went home.

With the virtual reality device being made available for public use in gaming and learning, Hong Kong Island Peace Hospital has also started a research project to explore the brain activity of vegetative state patients using the virtual reality device.

Therefore, after conducting a routine check in the computer room next to the Virtual Dream Lecture Hall in the afternoon, Zhang Heping did not go directly to the library, but instead went to the neurology department of Hong Kong Island Peace Hospital.

"Brain death?" Zhang Heping, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, frowned as he entered the ward and saw the first patient the medical staff had prepared for him.

"Wasn't he supposed to be in a vegetative state?" Zhang Heping frowned and stepped forward, placing his right hand on the patient's pulse.

When he first came in, he was able to tell at a glance that the patient was brain dead because his mental power could not detect the patient's brainwave activity.

At this point, by taking the patient's pulse, examining the eyelids, and using qigong to probe the patient's brain, Zhang Heping had a basic understanding of the patient's condition.

The head of neurology standing nearby chuckled and said, "This patient was brought in at noon today. We didn't want to admit him at first, but a dozen or so family members knelt on the ground. I was thinking that maybe we could try using the regeneration and repair fluid. What do you think, Professor Zhang?"

...(End of chapter)