The whole weird world is waiting for me to go to heaven

Chapter 978 Academic Conference (Part 3)

Everyone gasped.

After a moment of silence, a statistics professor from a Western empire asked, his voice trembling:

"Wait...you mean, this '10% pass rate' also includes all those who participate online?"

Upon hearing this, astonishment arose once more, as if the air itself had frozen.

However, Shen Zhiyu's answer was extremely cold:

"Yes, that's it."

A statistician from the Eastern Empire, head bowed, rapidly performed calculations, muttering to himself:

"Based on the total number of online membership portals I saw before, plus the number of people in person... with an average of about 13.78 people participating online per portal, and a passing score of 10%... at least 1527 people need to pass the review."

The room erupted in chaos.

"This is unreasonable!" a science and engineering professor slammed his fist on the table. "The number of students is so large, and the vast majority of them are our students!"

"Even we've only scratched the surface of this, how can we expect students to be able to solve it?"

"Moreover, Professor Vic's calculations are only a conservative estimate; the number of online participants is likely to be even higher..."

"Then we need more people to clear the level!"

"Isn't this blatantly asking us to die?"

"Fine then, since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well just wait to be slaughtered and suffer less torture!"

A literature professor from an Eastern empire, already feeling hopeless about the formula, plopped down on the ground and lay there like a rogue.

During the live stream, the professor's students, seeing this scene and feeling the strange looks from others, all blushed and wished they could immediately clarify that "they are not his students."

But this professor wasn't the only one experiencing such despair.

Those scholars and students who were not good at mathematics and physics felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

Now no one dares to doubt whether Shen Zhiyu truly possesses the "power to destroy the world"; they are only focused on not letting the world be destroyed in their own hands.

Shen Zhiyu looked at the professor who was "lying flat," her eyes suddenly turning cold, but the corners of her lips slowly turned up:
"Oh? You really want to die?"

“Yes.” The professor sneered, craning his neck. “Come on, stop talking nonsense.”

Excitement flashed in Shen Zhiyu's eyes, and a crimson light flickered in his palm: "Since that's the case, then I will..."

"In that case, please team up with me, professor!"

A clear, youthful female voice spoke again.

He Tao calmly stood in front of the professor, casually obscuring his figure.

The old professor looked up in confusion at the girl.

Shen Zhiyu was taken aback.

Then, a slight smile appeared on his cold, hard lips.

"Row."

This affirmation immediately brought new signals.

Everyone present was thinking very quickly—

So you can team up!

But that makes sense!

Scientific research can be a team effort, and papers have first, second, and third authors... so why can't it be done here?
Therefore, many people are now starting to look for their own teams, and even calling out to their students from afar:
"Where are my students? They all belong to my team!"

"Professor Mendel, your model of celestial motion is quite good. Would you like to work with me on it?"

"Old Liu, I've heard so much about you! Shall we go together?"

Just as many were excitedly searching for "allies," Shen Zhiyu's voice once again coldly suppressed the tension:
"But you have to be careful. If it's a team, you have to make contributions. You can't just do nothing," Shen Zhiyu said solemnly. "I won't allow people who just hang around and claim credit to get away with it here."

Upon hearing this, many people felt a chill run down their spines.

Meanwhile, inspired by He Tao's question, an algorithm expert boldly asked:

"Is there a team-up system? Otherwise, how can we communicate between people inside and outside the venue?"

"Yes, the network went down after we entered this space, so we couldn't contact each other at all..."

Many experts and scholars nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing about forming a team, I immediately thought of my project team members and took out my phone to contact them, only to find that there was no signal at all.

Shen Zhiyu coldly replied, "You can consider this kind of question yourselves."

The crowd erupted in uproar.

The crowd was angry but dared not speak out.

It's obvious that Shen Zhiyu is making things difficult for people.

After all, she can create such a space, and making a team system is just a matter of lifting a finger. But now she is not doing anything, clearly still wanting to keep people online out and lower the overall pass rate.

Even worse—

"Alright, now that everything is clear, let's begin."

She pointed to the sky, and a string of bright red countdown numbers suddenly appeared above the blood-red sky:
【23:34:45】

As the numbers ticked away, time flew by, second by second.

Everyone understands that when the countdown reaches zero, what awaits this world is an unstoppable explosion.

This is what Shen Zhiyu meant by "destroying the world".

Everyone was stunned.

"Why is time so tight!"

"How is this possible? Results in just one day? I can't even understand them!"

Some people boldly questioned, "Wait! How come six minutes have already passed?"

"Because you had too many questions, you wasted some time, which naturally counts in that."

Even though they knew Shen Zhiyu was being unreasonable, no one dared to resist. They simply swallowed their anger and dared not waste any more time.

"As for the rest, you can figure it out yourselves."

Shen Zhiyu was clearly getting impatient.

With that, he snapped his fingers and, along with the blood-red crane, vanished into the air as a cloud of blood mist.

However, for many people today, there are still many things that are not clear or understandable.

For example--

"Where are the paper and pen?"

"How do we calculate without a computer?"

"I brought my computer, but what's the use if I can't access CNKI?"

"Ha, do you really think your laptops are anything special?"

"Sigh, I miss the quantum computer in my lab..."

"Forget quantum computing, I'd even be happy with a supercomputer!"

There are also physiological needs:
"I'm hungry! I need to eat!"

"I have diabetes and need to take insulin... I can't hold on for that long!"

"I need to go to the toilet!"

That's just how things are. People who didn't originally have this thought start to have it unconsciously after others talk about it a lot, and one after another they fall into panic.

Uncontrolled emotions instantly swept through every corner of this blood-red space.

As a result, some people realized that something was wrong.

"Stop!"

A psychology professor suddenly stood up and shouted:
"Calm down! Haven't you noticed? This space is amplifying our fears and spreading them!"

"From now on, stop thinking! Don't feed fear into this space, don't pass it on to each other!"

“That’s right. If you’re really in a hurry, then you should find a way to get out as soon as possible,” said a calm-looking anthropology professor.

She had already taken out her laptop and started typing.

The crowd could only reluctantly suppress their panic and fear.

Fortunately, most of the people in the main venue were scholars who had endured long periods of research loneliness and the torment of failure. Many of them had regained their composure and began to focus on this time-limited and seemingly impossible task.

Of course, some academics who were already keen on "networking" started to wander around looking for suitable teammates.

As for what happens off the field...

It's not something I can consider right now.

Meanwhile, the persistent old literature professor, watching the young woman beside him rapidly typing a dazzling string of code on the computer, couldn't help but ask:

"What are you doing?"

"I want to create a team system."

"what?"

"What's your name?" the girl asked without looking up.

The old professor was taken aback, and subconsciously answered, "Dai Jing."

"Wait! You haven't answered my question yet, what team system?"

"Okay, here you go."

The girl handed him the laptop directly. It turned out to be a software application with a rather rudimentary interface.

However, it is very feature-rich, allowing communication in multiple ways such as text, video, and voice calls, and also includes a collaborative work system.

More importantly, the software even includes a team-up interface, allowing users to initiate recruitment and submit individual applications. This is perfectly suited for the current situation where we are almost completely isolated from the world and must work together to survive.

He saw himself, He Tao, and an ID named "Liu Sheng" listed in the same team interface.

Although I don't know who Liu Sheng is, the small green dot next to his profile picture clearly shows that he is online.

"But... what about the internet?" Dai Jing asked blankly.

"I just set up an intranet," the girl said casually.

Dai Jing pushed up his reading glasses and found that the computer screen did indeed show that it was connected to the internet, which was simply unbelievable!
Is this the new generation of archaeology?

From Shen Zhiyu's strange formula to the girl's various incomprehensible actions, it completely shattered his preconceived notions.

However, he was unaware that He Tao was not an archaeology major at all.

“Try contacting your students,” she said. “As long as they are in this space, they can access the system.”

"A phone call is fine too?"

"Well, I also integrated common communication protocols and connected them to a unified port, which means I've broken down the barriers between all communication methods and integrated them into a universal communication platform. Anyway, this isn't under the jurisdiction of any particular company, so it doesn't involve any patents, copyrights, or security issues..."

The girl kept rambling on and on, but Dai Jing didn't listen at all because he had actually gotten through to his student on the phone.

"A teacher? It really is a teacher!"

"Teacher, how are you? We haven't been able to get in touch with you!"

"Teacher, what should we do...?"

A flurry of panicked voices came from the other end of the phone.

Clearly, everyone was just as desperate as their mentor.

Shocked, Dai Jing quickly quieted everyone down and turned to the girl, asking, "Excuse me, how should we form this team?"

"As long as you connect to this network, the software will be downloaded automatically, and everyone can apply to form teams and work together."

As she spoke, she showed the WiFi connection bar at the bottom of her computer.

Its name was: [SkyNet Local Area Edition], and the password was: HelloWorld.

Dai Jing immediately showed it to the students via video call.

Soon, there was a cheer from the other side; it had actually connected and the software had popped up.

"Alright, you guys hurry up and apply to join our... 'Artsy Youth' team. We'll discuss what to do next later."

When he hung up the phone, a glimmer of hope appeared on Dai Jing's face for the first time.

As students joined the team one by one, the chat room instantly became lively, with a cacophony of voices coming from the computer screen.

The commotion quickly drew attention, and people curiously came over to see what was happening.

"Wait... does that mean it's connected to the outside world?"

"Can I talk to people outside?"

"No, only those in this meeting."

"That's still quite an achievement!"

"You can even team up?"

In an instant, even more people gathered around.

The algorithm expert couldn't help but ask, "How...how did you do that? We don't even have a network!"

The girl remained focused on her computer, saying without looking up:
"Because this space is constructed from inscriptions."

“If you can understand these inscriptions mathematically, you can do the opposite—translate the numbers into inscriptions to construct new rules.”

Although this statement is abstract, algorithm experts who are accustomed to mathematical thinking will immediately understand it.

Suddenly, he looked up at the scroll in the air.

In that instant, the thought flashed through my mind like lightning.

"So... all the answers were right before my eyes!"

"That's right. Once you've figured out this scroll, you can achieve anything you want in this space."

"Thank you!"

The algorithm expert bowed excitedly and also applied to join the "Skynet Local Area Edition".

This statement enlightened more than one person.

More and more people are joining the network, forming teams, and then immersing themselves in the study of this scroll.

This collective online activity was captured by a live stream camera from an unknown location, and anyone outside the venue with a device joined the network.

Whether it's a computer or a mobile phone, once connected to the network, relevant software will pop up, which can be used immediately to contact the scientists at the main venue.

This means that the previously hopeless "10% pass rate" has finally seen a tiny glimmer of possibility.

Of course, some people choose to bury themselves in their studies alone.

While everyone was still busy forming teams, this person had already closed his laptop, raised his hand, and loudly proclaimed:
"I want to apply to give a speech."

Like a pebble falling into water, all the noise vanishes instantly.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound in shock, and then they all showed knowing expressions of "It really was her."

The person who stood up was Xue Nian, the youngest associate professor in the mathematics department at the First Imperial University.

She wore thick-rimmed black glasses, a white shirt, and black trousers. It's said that she was too lazy to think about what to wear, and her entire wardrobe consisted of identical clothes.

He may not be particularly noticeable in appearance, but he has become famous for his groundbreaking work published in top mathematics journals and for winning the Fields Medal at a young age.

"Xue Nian from the First Imperial University, is it confirmed?" Shen Zhiyu's voice came from the void.

"determine."

"What direction?"

"Mathematics, High-Dimensional Function Decomposition and Topological Stability"

The crowd was shocked and in uproar, whispering amongst themselves.

"High-dimensional functions... what exactly did she see?"

"Stability? She solved the spatial structure?"

"How come I can't see this thing?"

Xue Nian remained unmoved, her gaze even appearing somewhat wooden.

However, rather than being dull, it's more accurate to describe him as having an arrogant and overconfident attitude.

Shen Zhiyu continued, "Since you are the only one who applied, this speech will be the main venue for presentations."

As soon as he finished speaking, the venue seemed to expand as if it were alive, with the seats wriggling and unfolding in layers.

On those newly appeared seats sat figures with indistinct outlines and chilling auras, making the scholars sitting next to them feel a chill run down their spines and quietly keep their distance.

Xue Nian stepped onto the stage with steady steps and a calm expression.

Do we need to use PowerPoint?

“No need,” Xue Nian replied.

Behind the podium, a huge blackboard appeared, and a glowing stylus slowly descended from the air.

Xue Nian took the pen and began to deduce on the blackboard.

"The part of this equation that I've observed conforms to an unnamed high-dimensional function. Clearly, this is a problem that hasn't yet appeared in the mathematical community. I believe the derivation can be done in the following way..."

As she spoke, she wrote, her logic clear and her rhythm distinct. The seemingly complex formulas gradually unfolded under her pen without a moment's pause, clearly demonstrating her confidence and mastery.

Everyone's attention was unknowingly drawn to her.

Even those who should have been busy studying their own topics, and even those who were not good at math and physics, couldn't help but stop what they were doing and listen attentively to the first person's speech.

Half an hour later, she stopped writing.

"Speech concluded."

It was done so casually, as if it were just a routine exercise.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Then came whispers and murmurs.

The illusory humanoid figures were also talking to each other. Although we couldn't understand their language, they were nodding incessantly, so they seemed quite certain.

At this moment, Shen Zhiyu had already taken her place in the front row.

She said softly, "I must say, Professor Xue's thought process is... so perfect that it's enviable, and his theories are quite comprehensive."

"So, what are your ideas about application scenarios?"

These words startled Xue Nian slightly.

She was only focused on solving the problem and hadn't considered that there might be such a question. She immediately became nervous, and her stuttering returned. She then stammered and mumbled something.

The atmosphere in the entire venue immediately became somber.

Even the shadowy judges slowly stopped nodding, their figures flickering and fading away, as if they had lost interest.

The outcome is decided.

Shen Zhiyu revealed a profound smile:

"I'm sorry, Professor Xue, you did not pass."

(End of this chapter)