Break out of the courtyard

"The mental energy receiving module on this fragment is 82% complete, while the brainwave downclocking module is less than 5% complete, classifying it as a JS type."

As Zhang Heping spoke, he used a black marker to scribble on the fragments of the golden mask, marking the location of the most valuable mental energy receiving module, and then handed it to Professor Ye from Xishu, who was wearing a white coat, white hat, and white gloves.

Professor Ye caught the gold fragment with both hands and solemnly placed it into a transparent plastic box next to him. Then, he handed it to an elderly professor next to him to pour glue into the plastic box to solidify it and prevent the gold fragment from being damaged during subsequent transportation.

However, this is not over.

The transparent plastic box was filled with glue, covered, and marked with "JS0013" before being placed on a silver-white tray and then sent to a desk in a distant corner.

Behind the table, a young male assistant was waiting, ready to use his mental power to confirm whether the internal structure of the golden mask in the box was consistent with the 3D model structure that Zhang Heping had recently created.

"Another receiving module?" The young male assistant said with some surprise after seeing the label on the box lid. "According to Teacher Zhang, there is only one receiving module on each mental energy mask."

"The discovery of 13 fragments with receiving modules means there are 13 mental masks!"

"Stop thinking about useless things!" The expert from Western Sichuan who delivered the box said with a serious expression, "Concentrate on the important matter at hand and try to examine it for a few more seconds!"

The young male assistant chuckled, "Don't worry, sir, the longest I've ever lasted with this second-generation brain-computer interface is 78 seconds!"

“I don’t need you to hold on for that long. Quickly check the 3D receiver module structure on the computer, then compare it with the internal structure of the gold fragments inside the box, and finally record your observations.” After saying this, the expert from Xishu turned back to Zhang Heping’s side, ready to continue assisting him.

"The brainwave blocking module on this fragment is 43% complete, classified as ZL." After Zhang Heping finished speaking, he made another note and handed over a gold fragment about half the size of his palm.

"Such a large piece, and there's only a small brainwave blocking module?" Professor Ye asked somewhat unwillingly, not because he doubted Zhang Heping's judgment, but because he had high expectations for this piece of gold.

"Haven't you noticed yet?" Zhang Heping picked up another gold fragment and smiled. "The gold masks corresponding to these gold fragments were obviously not made by the same person, or not made by the same person at the same time. It's normal for there to be differences."

"Teacher Zhang, we have a question we don't understand!" The old expert from Western Shu, who was in charge of carrying the trays and delivering the gold fragments, interjected:

"Why are the mental energy receiving modules, mental energy amplification modules, and so on that we've discovered now located in different places on the masks? Some are on the forehead, some on the chin, or even on the ears. Is this also due to human intervention?"

Zhang Heping nodded slightly, releasing his mental energy to probe the golden fragments while saying distractedly, "It might be because the manufacturers were different, or it might be because they were manufactured at different times."

"It's like the first-generation brain-computer interface mask and the second-generation micro brain-computer interface that I developed. The manufacturing time was not far apart, but the differences were very obvious."

"Compared to the second-generation microcomputer on my forehead, the external manifestation has also changed due to different needs."

"In addition, the internal texture of gold materials varies greatly from batch to batch."

"Back then, the creators of the gold masks had to use their mental power to assist in building the relevant structural modules based on the material properties of each gold mask."

Professor Ye and the other experts around him looked enlightened, finally solving one of the problems that had been troubling them recently.

"Professor Zhang!" Professor Ye hesitated for a moment, but then remembered what Elder Hua had told them: if they didn't understand something, they should ask. At most, Consultant Zhang wouldn't answer, and he wouldn't get angry.

Professor Ye then asked, "When you develop the two-dimensional gold material, will you not be limited by the texture when making the second-generation micro brain-computer interface, thus enabling mass production?"

"I can only say that there is some impact, but that impact is negligible," Zhang Heping replied, without going into detail about the microscopic problem of uneven thickness in two-dimensional gold materials.

After examining the last piece of gold, Zhang Heping removed the gold-plated jade Guanyin pendant from between his eyebrows and asked the several experts from Western Sichuan beside him, "Are there any more pieces being sent over this month?"

"It's not certain yet!" Professor Ye finished packing the last piece of gold and smiled, "After the 3D model of the brain-computer interface and functional modules you made was sent back to Western Shu, many people were no longer satisfied with just sending fragments. They also wanted to send over all the existing Ruomu brain-computer interfaces. Please help me check the differences."

Zhang Heping left his seat, pushed his chair back under the table, looked at the young man in the corner diagonally opposite him, and said casually, "The idea is good, but it may not pass the approval process!"

“Some people have their own stance, and some people have to obey; they don’t care about the research results here.”

When it comes to management issues, Professor Ye and his colleagues find it difficult to respond.

The last piece of gold was delivered to the corner diagonally opposite, where the young female assistant took over and verified it before it was sent to a 24-hour guarded warehouse for storage.

These assistants are more mentally capable than ordinary people, but none of them are beyond the realm of ordinary people. Basically, each assistant can only verify one piece of gold fragment before they have to be replaced.

After finishing with the gold fragments, Zhang Heping visited other laboratories before returning to Hong Kong Island.

Zhang Heping didn't rush to collect the gold fragments for auto-play; doing so would only lead to getting too much and not getting anything worthwhile.

He has now confirmed one thing: when wearing the second-generation microcomputer, it is indeed impossible to leave other skills running in the background.

Only when one is not wearing a brain-computer interface and is not releasing mental energy can one use special methods, such as burning or scraping with a knife, to "hang up" the device with the Ruomu brain-computer interface mask or gold fragments.

After Zhang Heping left, Professor Ye and his group of experts from Western Sichuan had only just begun their research.

Although Zhang Heping had inspected the gold fragments and a young assistant had verified them, these veteran experts who had spent most of their lives researching Ruomu's brain-computer interface still wanted to personally verify them.

In their view, Zhang Heping's greatest contribution, besides the 3D model of the brain-computer interface and functional modules that have already been built, is his formidable mental strength.

Only Zhang Heping's mental strength and his familiarity with the 3D model inside the brain-computer interface were able to determine which category those gold fragments belonged to in a short time.

If you let them search, even if each of them could last 30 seconds, even if they found similar modules, they still wouldn't be able to accurately connect the incomplete modules on the fragments with the relevant modules on the 3D model.

The few tens of seconds of mental energy they convert are wasted if they can't connect with the system; by the time they recover their energy and try to match it again, who knows how long it will take.

However, after Zhang Heping made a judgment and his young assistant verified the information, the gold fragments were not so difficult to identify.

Professor Ye and his team only need to first retrieve the corresponding 3D module, and then wear the second-generation micro brain-computer interface to confirm it.

Although each of them, like the younger assistants, could only investigate one fragment of gold, their intense thirst for knowledge compelled them to personally explore and understand the differences, otherwise they would be replaced by the younger assistants.

In fact, they hadn't been of much help these past few days, only acting as assistants and helping Zhang Heping hand things over.

If it weren't for the agreement made before the gold fragments were delivered that Zhang Heping had to study them with experts from Western Shu, this laboratory would probably only be filled with young people.

They are getting quite anxious, as they could be replaced by younger people at any time.

Completely disregarding Zhang Pingding's established laboratory regulations, they not only refused to allow the young assistants at the underground base to provide assistance, but also obstructed the laboratory's surveillance cameras.

When the guards came to investigate the anomaly, they couldn't open the iron gate after knocking for a long time. Finally, they had no choice but to ask their superiors for permission. Only with the joint authorization of Secretary Chen, Vice President Qian, and Vice President Deng, were they able to open the alloy door of the laboratory through the security system backend.

Then, something happened that made the guards nervous and angry.

Beside the laboratory door, seventeen elderly men and women sat listlessly against the wall. Two other elderly men stood a distance away, looking at an elderly woman in the corner, seemingly doing nothing. "They're fine, they just need to rest for a while!" Professor Ye, who was still waiting in line for the second-generation microcomputer, said casually.

The next second, Professor Ye pulled the rope, opening the second-generation microcomputer between the eyebrows of the old woman in the far corner.

Then he and the old man next to him quickly stepped forward and helped the old lady, who hadn't been able to resist using her brain for a while, back to the wall by the door, where she sat down with the other old men and women.

Just as Professor Ye was about to have another old man go first to wear the second-generation microcomputer and he was preparing to go last, Qian Lao's voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Your lab access has been revoked by Consultant Zhang, and you must leave now!"

When the security system was activated in the background, Zhang Heping's phone issued a warning.

As the guards opened the laboratory door and removed all the clothing obscuring the surveillance cameras, Zhang Heping knew what had happened without asking.

Zhang Heping has never been tolerant of people who don't follow laboratory rules and regulations!

No matter how famous the expert is, if they violate the rules, their laboratory access will be revoked, and they will only be allowed to operate in ordinary laboratories within the college.

Even with the pleas of Professor Hua, Vice President Deng, and Vice President Qian afterward, the deletion of six months' access privileges was absolutely inevitable.

Vice Dean Deng is aware of the experimental content here, and also knows which equipment is the most valuable.

After he came in, he walked to the corner without saying a word and took down the copper coin-shaped gold coin that was hanging in mid-air.

Seeing Vice Dean Deng's serious expression, Professor Ye turned to Vice Dean Qian, whom he was more familiar with, and asked, "Professor Qian, we were just conducting an experiment behind closed doors, so... how did Consultant Zhang delete our access?"

"Article 3 of the first safety regulation in the laboratory stipulates that no one may obstruct or damage surveillance cameras for any reason. Violators will have all access to the laboratory revoked and will be held accountable for safety violations!" The security supervisor for this section frowned and stepped forward, speaking coldly.

"Please leave the lab first, do not touch any items, and then cooperate with our investigation!"

When Professor Ye looked at him, Mr. Qian simply nodded slightly and did not say anything more at this moment, because this was a rule set by Zhang Heping, and this was Zhang Heping's territory.

Of course, the main reason is that Zhang Heping's starting point was to ensure the safety of the laboratory personnel, which is why he enforced the rules and regulations so strictly.

To make management easier, Hua, Deng, and Qian were happy to have Zhang Heping, this academic heavyweight, act as the villain, because he could keep these people in check.

"Could I call Professor Zhang and explain?" Professor Ye tried to salvage the situation.

Just from the tone of his voice, it was easy to see that he had lost most of his confidence and had no confidence to refute the matter.

"report!"

A guard wearing a white armband with a red cross went to check on the elderly people sitting against the wall, then ran to the guard supervisor and loudly reported:

"No suspicious symptoms were found, just the same fatigue reaction as the young assistant here before, so he needs to be sent to the hospital for an electroencephalogram as usual."

The head of security looked at Vice President Deng, and seeing that he did not express any opinion, he looked at Vice President Qian and said, "Professor Qian, you are familiar with these people, so I will trouble you to go to the hospital with them; these two experts need to come to my office with me."

It wasn't a conversation, but rather an excuse to get Professor Qian out of the way, so that Professor Ye wouldn't be uncooperative with the other professor.

Old Qian understood that the guard captain was saving face for him, so he agreed without hesitation. He turned around and went with the other guards to help the old man and woman on the ground and prepare to send them to the military jeep outside.

……

After returning home, Zhang Heping went straight to the laboratory on the second basement level.

The laboratory is small, because half of the space is occupied by cast iron boxes painted white.

Zhang Long was training his mental strength inside the iron box, while Zhang Bei and Zhang Hu waited outside.

The reason there is a cast iron box here is because Zhang Heping discovered that even his mental power could not penetrate cast iron plates that are more than 1 centimeter thick.

Therefore, this cast iron box is used to prevent mental energy from running rampant.

In addition to searching for materials that can hinder mental energy, Zhang Heping is also screening for materials that can absorb mental energy.

These materials, like insulators and conductors, play a crucial role in future applications of spiritual power.

"Dad!" Zhang Hu asked hurriedly when he saw his father return, "Did you discover any new brain-computer interface modules today?"

"No!" Zhang Heping glanced at the tightly closed iron gate and said casually, "However, there's a new discovery today."

Zhang Bei pulled on the rope connecting the inside of the cast iron box, making the bell inside ring twice. Then he looked at his father, wanting to hear what the discovery was.

Before Zhang Hu could ask any further questions, Zhang Heping reached out and pressed his hand on his sixth son's head, saying, "Get out of the way, I need to use the computer."

"I discovered a fragmented mental energy receiving module today. The structure is very simple. I suspect it is the most basic receiving module. I'll build up the model first before discussing anything else."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hu quickly moved aside, blocking the doorway with the computer behind him.

A click sounded from inside the cast iron gate, and then the gate opened inward, and Zhang Long walked out.

Zhang Long was still wondering why his older brother had sounded the alarm so soon after he went in. Then he saw their father sitting in front of the computer, moving the mouse rapidly and typing incessantly on the keyboard with his left hand.

Even though Zhang Heping has very strong computer skills, it still took him nearly twenty minutes to build this basic mental energy receiving module 3D model.

"Dad, is this what you called very simple?" Zhang Hu asked in surprise. "I feel like this module is more complicated than all the other modules combined. I don't understand it at all!"

Zhang Heping didn't rush to explain, but instead looked at his eldest son, Zhang Bei, who seemed to be deep in thought, and asked, "Xiao Bei, have you figured out the problem?"

“It is indeed very complicated!” Zhang Bei frowned. “However, Dad just said that its structure is very simple, and I was wondering what makes it simple!”

"Then, I thought of the word 'redundancy,' and my experience when I was learning programming."

"Dad, are you trying to say that this module has a lot of useless structures, but its core functional area is the simplest?"

“That’s right!” Zhang Heping said with satisfaction, “Look here, I’ve used red lines to represent mental energy, and blue lines to represent the converted brainwaves…” (End of Chapter)