Those who face the wall, but are in the Nascent Soul stage.

Chapter 70 King Wen of Zhou (Seeking first subscription)
One month after the ETO organization was destroyed and the Wallfacers went into hibernation.

Zhucheng, Shandong, China.

A dejected old professor leans against a sandstone rock, with the latest rejection slip from the journal Nature at his side.

His academic papers, the result of more than ten years of field research, statistics, summarization, and compilation, were rejected once again. These arrogant reviewers didn't even finish reading his specific arguments about dinosaurs evolving into civilization.

The old professor felt a tightness in his chest; if he couldn't get published in a top journal, he would never be able to overcome the insurmountable barrier of becoming a full professor.

He is already fifty-two years old and not many years away from retirement. He has switched from physics to paleontology, which is relatively easy to produce results. He thought that his discovery would be enough to shake people's common sense about paleontology.

But to his surprise, not only did he fail to gain recognition from the paleontology community, his eligibility to even be published was repeatedly rejected.

The editor-in-chief of Nature even gave him a sarcastic "fantasy literature" review in the reply slip, and didn't even glance at the old professor's arguments about the evolution of civilization involving dinosaurs and metal forging.

Dinosaurs developed civilization? Even a civilization capable of smelting metals? Isn't that a joke?
A failure is a failure. Even if you work your way up to become a senior professor, you're still a failure among senior professors. The research directions you choose are full of wild fantasies, no wonder people describe it as fantasy literature.

Thinking of this, the old professor's resentment resurfaced.

Arrogance, arrogant editor-in-chief.

Arrogant humans.

"Professor Zhou, please don't be so angry." A student quickly took the rejection slip from the old professor's side, moving very gently throughout the process, as if afraid of disturbing something.

—Less than half a meter away from her and Teacher Zhou, there lay a complete Tyrannosaurus skeleton. Such a complete dinosaur skeleton is rare. Even in Zhucheng, Shandong, which is famous for its dinosaur fossil group, it is extremely rare to find fossils with such a complete preservation.

Now, the old professor and his students are squatting in this newly discovered fossil pit.

The master and apprentice have been working here for a month now.

“I’m not angry at all,” Teacher Zhou, or rather King Wen of Zhou, shook his head.

After he finished speaking, he suddenly picked up the geological hammer from the ground and smashed it hard against the sedimentary rock behind him, sending rubble flying everywhere.

Female student: "..."

The female student stood in front of the dinosaur fossil, fearing that her doctoral dissertation would be ruined halfway through by her supervisor's hammer blow.

"Don't be nervous, I'm really not angry. If I can't submit to Nature, I can submit to Science or Cell, or even The Lancet if all else fails. It's a great discovery, and someone will recognize its value."

"But you've already had your manuscript rejected by 14 scientific journals. They all scoff at your claim that dinosaurs developed civilization at the end of the Cretaceous period," the female student couldn't help but whisper.

King Wen of Zhou: "..."

King Wen of Zhou raised his hand shakily and adjusted his glasses with difficulty.

"But, Xiaoyun, you know that my discovery is enough to overturn the current historical system of paleontology."

King Wen of Zhou gently stroked a tyrannosaurus femur fossil with his rough fingers. Near this tyrannosaurus fossil, numerous metal fragments were also unearthed.

"Based on the dating results obtained using the potassium-argon (K-Ar) method, these metal pieces with obvious man-made characteristics belong to the same era as the dinosaurs. These iron pieces were found next to the dinosaur fossils as 'tools'... This indicates that dinosaurs were casting metals. The chemical properties of these metal pieces are extremely stable, almost second only to elemental gold. What does this mean? It means that dinosaurs had a civilization..."

King Wen of Zhou looked at the dinosaur in front of him and muttered to himself.

The female student was already used to this, and she echoed her teacher's words: "Yes, Teacher Zhou, they not only cast metal, but also built spaceships. They flew their spaceships into space and even avoided that meteorite."

King Wen of Zhou's expression turned serious: "I'm serious, don't interrupt."

The female student replied, "What I said is true. If I were lying, I wouldn't be able to graduate from my doctoral program after three years."

King Wen of Zhou looked at his student with a puzzled expression. "Isn't this your fifth year as a doctoral student?"

"Yes, that's all thanks to you, teacher. I shouldn't have made that stupid decision to choose paleontology when so many professors were vying for my major..."

Hearing the student's tone gradually turn bitter, and showing a tendency to transform into that of Xianglin's wife, King Wen of Zhou interrupted.

"Xiaoyun, once I'm selected as an Outstanding Young Scientist and published in a top journal, I'll definitely include your name in my second article."

The female student said blankly, "You're over fifty and you're still applying for the Outstanding Young Scientist award? That's only for people under 45. Five years ago, I listened to your nonsense and ended up like this. Maybe we should join the ETO... Oh no, the ETO is gone now. Luo Qing killed them all."

King Wen of Zhou remained silent.

King Wen of Zhou hesitated, as if he wanted to speak.

King Wen of Zhou took a geological hammer and smashed the metal piece closest to him.

Female student: "!!!"

King Wen of Zhou struggled to his feet. His gaze swept over the rusted chromium-iron alloy flakes on the workbench. These metal fragments, unearthed from Cretaceous strata, had patterns etched on their surfaces resembling integrated circuits. This was King Wen's most powerful proof of the existence of dinosaur civilization.

But at this moment, he needs more direct evidence.

Strangely enough, although King Wen of Zhou did not have any outstanding achievements in physics in his early years and had to turn to the field of paleontology, he was still quite capable as one of the few remaining paleontologists in the world dedicated to the study of prehistoric times.

Although it is indeed difficult to get published in top journals like Nature and Science.

But being rejected ten times in a row is indeed unreasonable.

If it weren't for this ten consecutive rejections breaking down Zhou Wenwang's psychological defenses, he wouldn't have accepted Ye Wenjie's invitation to join the [Science Frontier Society], which led to his being absorbed into the ETO organization and, years later, becoming a member of the seven-person council.

Ultimately, it was the Trisolaran civilization that had such a profound impact on humanity. Previously niche fields like astronomy suddenly became incredibly popular, with top journals giving the green light to related papers. In comparison, history and paleontology were practically forgotten.

Given King Wen of Zhou's shift from physics to paleontology, it's no surprise that he defected to the Nationalist army in 49.

But King Wen of Zhou always believed that his research direction was correct.

And the source of that confidence is—

"Lord, please tell me, is my judgment that dinosaur civilization gave rise to civilization correct?"

Based on your findings, the conclusion that Earth's dinosaurs once evolved into a civilization is largely true.

"Lord, do you really believe in me?"

Civilizational shifts are not uncommon; the Trisolaran world has experienced 196 instances of civilizational extinction and rebirth.

The Trisolarans' answer gave King Wen of Zhou great confidence.

This was also the main reason why King Wen of Zhou was so devoted to the Trisolarans.

In real life, he was known as the Kong Yiji among Tsinghua professors and was ridiculed by his peers for many years. However, he was suddenly recognized by the Executive Associate Professor Zhou Wenwang, and this sense of satisfaction is irreplaceable.

The moment the Trisolarans recognized King Wen of Zhou, King Wen felt he was the happiest person in the world.

If King Wen of Zhou had any remaining wish for the rest of his life, it was to have his discoveries recognized by the academic community, so that humanity could truly realize that human civilization was not the first civilization on Earth!
After that, whether Earth's civilization was destroyed by the Trisolaran civilization or Earth's civilization retaliated against the Trisolaran fleet, King Wen of Zhou didn't care anymore. He wouldn't choose to hibernate and die in the dinosaur fossil pile when he got old.

For him, this is just the right amount of life.

(End of this chapter)