Break out of the courtyard

"Less than three hours after the explosion, the Americans set up 13 tents at the bottom of the crater at the epicenter of the explosion. There's definitely something wrong with that!"

Did our satellite capture images of the bottom of the pits before the tents were erected last night?

"Due to factors such as light, explosion smoke and dust, and the angle of the crater bottom, our satellite did not capture images of the explosion center."

"Look at the Americans outside the crater. Their underground labs have been destroyed, yet they're still building a wall around it. What could possibly make them so concerned? The Jianmu Divine Tree?"

"Even the Jianmu Divine Tree probably couldn't withstand such a massive explosion!"

"Mr. Qian, do you know where the Americans hid the Jianmu Sacred Tree?"

Mr. Qian was replying to text messages on his phone when he heard someone asking him a question. He simply looked up at the person and then addressed the whispering crowd in the conference room, saying, "Breaking news: Mr. Hua has already confirmed the authenticity of the first-generation Virtual Dream game console at Consultant Zhang's home."

"This involves a new generation of brain-computer interfaces, as well as a frog brain server."

Before Qian Lao could finish speaking, the attendees began discussing the new brain-computer interface and the Frog Brain server.

"Professor Qian!" a biology professor in his forties shouted, "Excuse me, what do you mean by the frog brain server you just mentioned?"

As soon as the shout rang out, the surrounding noise quickly subsided.

"Online games have network servers, and virtual reality games have biological brain servers." Professor Qian turned his gaze from his phone, scanned the attendees, and continued:

"Gentlemen, the explosion in the United States is far away from us. Even if you know what they are hiding or researching, what can you do about it?"

"So, let's get back to the main topic of our meeting and think about our brain-computer interface research!"

"What's there to think about..." a young man wrapped in a military overcoat muttered, but the surrounding noise just happened to disappear, making his words seem particularly loud.

Mr. Qian looked at the young man sitting on the periphery, who wasn't even qualified to sit at the conference table, and calmly said, "Then please let this young comrade share his thoughts."

The young man in the military overcoat felt a little flustered by the stares of others, especially when he saw his teacher's serious expression with his brows furrowed. He thought to himself that if he pretended to be mute now, he would probably get a severe scolding from his teacher when he got back.

The young man steeled himself, stood up, and said in a slightly trembling voice, trying to speak as loudly as possible, "Didn't Mr. Qian just say that Mr. Hua was at Consultant Zhang's house?"

"Could you please ask Mr. Hua to inquire with Consultant Zhang whether we can learn brain-computer interface technology from him?"

Before the young man could finish speaking, many people around who knew the inside story shook their heads and looked away.

"I don't know why Consultant Zhang is developing brain-computer interfaces in Hong Kong Island instead of at the Peace Academy in Shenzhen," the young man said loudly.
"However, I know that Consultant Zhang has already developed the first, second, third, and fourth generation brain-computer interfaces, and may even have developed the fifth generation, while we have not even been able to successfully replicate the first generation!"

……

Cheung Family Villa, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong Island.

When Chen Shuting came home from get off work, she saw Zhang Bei sitting on the sofa with a helpless expression.

Looking at Elder Hua and Director Wang beside her, Chen Shuting roughly guessed the reason.

"When did Grandpa Hua, Aunt Wang, and Second Sister arrive?" Before they could answer, Chen Shuting turned to Zhang Bei and said, "Xiao Bei, go check if the food in the kitchen is ready. Once it is, go tell Xiao Hu and the others to stop playing."

As she spoke, Chen Shuting placed her handbag on the low cabinet under the television.

"Shuting!" Director Wang said with a smile, "I heard you've secured another gold mine deal in Africa. Do you really need that much gold?"

"I heard from experts in Shenzhen that if we use two-dimensional gold material to make brain-computer interfaces, the existing gold reserves in China would be enough."

“I don’t know how much gold I need!” Chen Shuting walked to the sofa where Zhang Bei had just been sitting, sat down, and said casually, “My husband didn’t tell me to stop, so I can only keep collecting.”

Seeing that Mr. Hua remained silent, Director Wang continued, "At the technology sharing session on the 12th of next month, are you planning to publicly disclose the relevant technologies, or are you preparing to recruit R&D personnel?"

"It's just to let the world know that the first-generation Virtual Dream game console has been made; it's just a little advertising." Chen Shuting took the teacup Zhang Bei brought her and smiled.

"Don't worry, if we need to recruit R&D personnel, Peace Group will post recruitment information on its official website."

Upon hearing the word "advertisement," Director Wang and Elder Hua exchanged a glance, both completely baffled.

Hua asked in confusion, "You mean, you won't share the technology then?"

"A technical sharing session definitely needs to cover some technical topics, otherwise who would bother to come all this way to attend the next meeting?" Chen Shuting smiled and said, "As for what we'll talk about, you can ask my husband later."

Chen Shuting dealt with the situation in the living room for a while before Tang Xin returned with her two students, Zhang Nuo and Zhang Hao.

A moment later, Zhang Heping left the laboratory, which had been re-encased inside and out with black iron, went to the adjacent basement to call his children, and then went back upstairs to prepare lunch.

"Peace!" When Old Hua saw Zhang Heping come out of the stairwell, he hurriedly got up and stepped forward, saying solemnly to Zhang Heping, "I have something I want to talk to you about alone."

“Let’s go to the flat area outside!” Zhang Heping readily agreed. “It’ll be a good opportunity to get some fresh air.”

Upon receiving a positive response, Mr. Hua immediately turned and walked out.

Zhang Heping glanced at his watch and said to Chen Shuting, who had just gotten up from the sofa, "If we don't come in in 5 minutes, you can eat first."

"Okay!" Chen Shuting came to Zhang Heping's side, straightened her husband's coat, and seeing that there were no gold fragments left on Zhang Heping, she let him go out.

Hua Lao wanted to talk to Zhang Heping, but he had already subtly inquired with Zhang Bei and Chen Shuting earlier. He just wanted to confirm with Zhang Heping and also ask him about the possibility of cooperation with the mainland.

Unfortunately, Zhang Heping's response was still to offer an equal exchange.

It's like if you don't get access to the Sanxingdui underground base, you'll never be able to get past this hurdle.

"Let's eat first!" Zhang Heping stood up, checked his watch, and said calmly, "You know what I want. If you don't want to give it to me, then don't try to test me. The principle of equal exchange will not change!"

Old Hua stood up, intending to say a few words to ease the atmosphere, but Zhang Heping had already strode towards the villa.

Zhang Heping returned to the family dining room five minutes in advance. His family members were waiting for him and did not start eating beforehand.

Because Mr. Hua was still at the back, everyone waited a while before starting lunch.

"Dad!" Zhang Hu picked up the soup bowl and asked with a hint of hope, "I was just thinking, when we turn into mosquitoes in the game, we don't have the compound eye perspective of mosquitoes. This should be considered a bug." "That's true!" Zhang Heping nodded and said, "It's quite difficult to force players to simulate the compound eye perspective of mosquitoes in the Frog Brain Dream. We can only guide players to actively simulate it themselves."

"You can try it out when you play this afternoon. In the future, when making virtual dream network games, we can consider adding brainwave guidance so that players can subconsciously simulate it."

"However, this means we have to consider a lot of factors. It would be too much for just a few of us to handle, and it would be a waste of time."

Zhang Long chimed in from the side, "In the early stages, it doesn't need to be too realistic. Being able to play online is already very good."

Zhang Bei agreed, saying, "It's like the video games we used to play. As they gradually developed and improved, they evolved into the computer and mobile online games we have today."

Tang Xin interjected, "Ah Lie called this morning to ask how difficult it is to produce the virtual reality game console, and whether he could act as a production agent?"

"What did you say back to him?" Zhang Heping asked casually.

Tang Xin laughed and said, "I told him to attend the technical sharing session on the 12th. Once he goes and listens, he'll understand how difficult it is!"

They haven't told Tang Ming, Tang Ren, and the other members of the Tang family about brain-computer interfaces and mental abilities yet.

Therefore, in the eyes of the Tang family, Zhang Heping's family has been acting mysteriously lately, always staying in the basement.

The key point is that they couldn't get any information from Tang Xin, and even Zhang Hao, that 6-year-old boy, kept his mouth shut and refused to talk about their family matters.

If asked, you mustn't say! "I don't know! Brothers and sisters, you're not allowed to tell!"
"Peace, what generation of brain-computer interface have you developed so far?" Elder Hua suddenly interjected.

"Currently, it's still the fourth-generation superimposed brain-computer interface, which reduces mental energy consumption and enhances mental power. These two projects still need to optimize the superimposed form, otherwise it will be difficult to mass-produce them later." Zhang Heping didn't lie about this. Revealing some information appropriately can make some people in the mainland feel a sense of urgency.

"Dad, are those hierarchical structures really that important?" Zhang Nian asked, puzzled. "What if the fifth-generation brain-computer interface you're developing doesn't need those hierarchical structures? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?"

Zhang Bei continued, "Dad optimized those multi-layered architectures to make it easier for us to learn."

Zhang Hu responded, "Third Sister, your idea is like saying that the thatched huts, tiled houses, bungalows, and low-rise buildings we built before were useless because we're going to build skyscrapers later."

"But how could a skyscraper be built without the prior architectural design and the concrete and steel ratio?"

Seeing that his two sons had answered first, Zhang Heping didn't say anything more.

“I think the current multi-layered superposition pattern is already quite good. Is there anything else that needs to be optimized?” Zhang Feng looked at Zhang Bei and the others.

Zhang Bei casually replied, "It still needs to be miniaturized!"

"Fourth Sister!" Zhang Long laughed, "Do you know how many kilograms of gold our current helmet-mounted brain-computer interface consumes?"

"If we were to mass-produce brain-computer interfaces using the standards of helmets, all the gold on Earth combined wouldn't be enough for all of humanity, let alone the other supporting infrastructure!"

Zhang Hu nodded and said, "If we do it that way, virtual reality games will become games for the rich, and ordinary people will only be able to play on their phones or computers."

When Hua Lao heard Zhang's children discussing among themselves, he didn't press Zhang Heping any further. Instead, he quietly ate his meal while listening to their opinions and discerning which information Zhang Heping had instilled in his children.

Zhang Heping ate quickly, stood up and said, "Everyone, take your time eating," before heading back to the underground laboratory.

"Dad, I just had an idea!" Zhang Hu hurriedly put down his chopsticks and chased after him. "Could we add two mosquito brains next to the frog brain? We can first convert our mental energy through the mosquito brains and then enter the frog brain?"

"Wouldn't this allow for a better simulation of mosquitoes and provide them with the perspective of mosquito compound eyes?"

"Good idea!" Zhang Heping said casually. "Write it down in your notes first, and you can try it when you have time. I don't have time right now."

After Zhang Hu's idea was approved by his father, he stood there, took out his phone, and started typing rapidly, clearly recording his thoughts.

After Zhang Hu returned to his seat, Zhang Bei asked in confusion, "Xiao Hu, what you meant was to convert our brainwaves into mosquito brainwaves and then enter the frog's brain?"

"Hmm!" Zhang Hu nodded with a smile. "Think about it! After we enter the frog brain's dream, won't we be able to easily transform back into human form?"

"But why can't we easily transform into other insects or animals?"

"So I thought, what turns us into mosquitoes must be the influence of the frog brain waves; what makes us easily turn back into human form must be the influence of our own human brain waves."

"So if we add a mosquito brain, or the brain of another creature, in the middle, wouldn't it be easy to transform into another creature in a dream?"

Zhang Nian asked, puzzled, "Why choose mosquito brains?"

"Third Sister, have you forgotten the frog brain's tolerance limit?" Zhang Feng couldn't stand it anymore. "That frog brain can only accept the brainwave input and output of two people. If we add a larger biological brain, wouldn't it only be able to play single-player games?"

Zhang Bei and Zhang Long nodded, agreeing with Zhang Feng's explanation, but Zhang Nian still didn't quite understand.

In contrast, Mr. Hua and Director Wang were completely confused and couldn't keep up with the young people's thinking.

Zhang Nan glanced at Zhang Nian and said, "Why are you digging so deep instead of researching how to manufacture brain-computer interfaces? You should be thinking about how to make money from virtual dream games."

"Tang is doing a good job with the online shopping platform they're developing now. I was thinking, if online stores in virtual dreams are just like physical stores in the future, who will still go out to shop in physical stores?"

Zhang Nian frowned and said, "If things really develop this way, not only will physical stores be impacted and storefronts will be difficult to rent out, but the real estate market will definitely be affected as well!"

“That’s for sure!” Zhang Bei said seriously, “Once the virtual dream game pod is out, people can lie down inside and take care of everything, from eating and drinking to relieving themselves and sleeping.”

"If the game were made even better, it would be so addictive that people might not leave the game pod for more than ten days!"

Chen Shuting shook her head and said, "Your dad said before that virtual dream games must be limited to 8 hours in length to prevent players from becoming addicted."

"In addition, spending too much time in the game pod is not conducive to communication between adults and minors."

As Chen Shuting spoke, she looked at Hua Lao and said, "In fact, restrictions should be imposed on online games and mobile games nowadays."

Mr. Hua understood this and nodded in response, "We discussed this issue in a meeting last month. We have already asked the network department to retrieve the online data of the relevant games, and we will introduce relevant laws and regulations as soon as possible!"

When Tang Xin heard her second daughter mention that the storefronts wouldn't be rented out, she immediately thought of Heping Real Estate's leasing business and asked with some concern, "Xiao Nan, will physical stores really be unable to operate as you say in the future?"

...(End of chapter)