Rejecting Tsinghua and Peking Universities: I Will Lead Harbin Institute of Technology to World Lead

The special plane landed at a military airport in the western suburbs of Beijing at 11 p.m.

There was no welcoming party, no routine checks; a black sedan with a special pass drove directly onto the runway and screeched to a halt beside the gangway. The door opened, and Professor Chen's personal assistant strode forward, his face grave: "Chief Engineer Lin, please come with me. Professor Chen is waiting for you at the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

Lin Feng nodded and got into the vehicle.

As the vehicle drove out of the airport, the scene on the streets of Beijing was even more alarming.

The streets shouldn't be this deserted at dawn, but at this moment, apart from the occasional ambulance and supply truck passing by, there were almost no civilian vehicles in sight. Shops were tightly shut, and the lights shining from the windows of residential buildings were sparse and scattered. Temporary checkpoints were set up every 500 meters on the street corners, with staff in protective suits standing guard in the cold wind.

The entire city, like a sleeping behemoth, was breathing faintly.

"When did it start?" Lin Feng asked.

The assistant glanced at him in the rearview mirror, his voice low: "Two months ago, only a few sporadic cases were initially found at a few ports of entry, which were thought to be the common flu. But within a week, the number of cases increased exponentially. Now... all thirty-four provincial-level administrative regions in the country have reported outbreaks."

"Virus characteristics?"

"High fever, persistent, with a maximum body temperature of 42 degrees Celsius. Conventional antipyretics are ineffective; only physical cooling methods are available. Severe cases may experience multiple organ failure, and death can occur in as little as 72 hours from the onset of illness."

The assistant paused, then added, "The mortality rate is currently 17.3%. But that's only when the healthcare system is still functioning. If healthcare resources are overwhelmed..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Feng understood.

A fatality rate of 17.3% is extremely high in the history of infectious diseases. The global fatality rate of the 1918 influenza pandemic was only 2.5%.

The vehicle entered the underground parking garage of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed through three biosafety inspection gates, and finally stopped in front of a dedicated elevator.

"Mr. Chen is in his office on the top floor. This elevator goes directly there and has been disinfected." The assistant handed over an N99 protective mask. "Chief Engineer Lin, please make sure you take precautions. This virus... is extremely contagious."

Lin Feng put on a mask and went up in the elevator.

When the elevator doors opened, Mr. Chen was standing with his back to the door in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window. The old man was not wearing his usual Zhongshan suit, but a white protective suit. Through the mask, you could see the bloodshot veins in his eyes.

The office walls are covered with epidemic data charts, electron microscope images of viruses, and gene sequence analyses. Three large screens display the national epidemic map, international epidemic updates, and the saturation of medical resources in various regions.

Those curves all point in the worst possible direction.

"Lin Feng, you've arrived." Old Chen turned around, his voice hoarse from talking for so long.

"Old Chen," Lin Feng stepped forward quickly, "What exactly happened?"

"Take a look for yourself." Old Chen pushed a thick stack of documents over. "This is what has happened around the world in the last six months."

Lin Feng took it and quickly flipped through it.

Lin Feng's brows furrowed more and more tightly.

This is not an ordinary viral outbreak.

Its transmission speed, lethality, and mutation rate... each aspect exceeded the limits of natural viruses. Even more bizarrely, it appeared right after the Free State held a global military exercise.

"Old Chen," Lin Feng looked up, "what's the international community saying?"

"They're blaming each other." Old Chen smiled bitterly. "The Free Country says the virus might have come from a biological laboratory in the Northern Bear Country, the Northern Bear Country says it's a biological weapon leak from Europe, and Europe says the Free Country deliberately released it to divert attention from its domestic problems... The truth? Nobody cares about the truth anymore. All countries have closed their borders, 90% of international flights have been suspended, and the UN Security Council has held seven emergency meetings, but apart from arguing, there have been no results."

He walked to the epidemic map, pointing to the territory of China: "What we can do now is isolate people as much as possible to slow the spread and buy time for drug development. But..."

The old man traced the red zones representing strained medical resources: "Our expert team has been studying it for two months. We've analyzed the virus's structure, sequenced its genome, and figured out its transmission mechanism—but we just can't find an effective drug. All known antiviral drugs are ineffective against it. Seventeen versions of vaccines have been developed, all failing due to viral mutations."

"So you asked me to come here..." Lin Feng understood.

"Yes." Old Chen turned around, his eyes blazing. "Lin Feng, you have created too many miracles. The country needs you to create another miracle. A miracle... to save the lives of hundreds of millions of people."

He took another encrypted hard drive from the safe: "This contains all the research data on the virus, including all the failed attempts our experts have made. Whatever you need, the government will provide it. Personnel, equipment, facilities... just ask."

Lin Feng took the hard drive; it felt heavy in his hand.

This is not just technical data; it represents the lives of hundreds of millions of people and the hope for the survival of a civilization.

"I need to study this on my own for a while," he said without hesitation.

"Everything is ready for you." Old Chen pointed to the side door of the office. "Inside is a top-of-the-line biosafety laboratory, with all the equipment and materials in place. If you need any help, just press the call button."

"it is good."

Without saying anything more, Lin Feng pushed open the side door.

The room is not large, about 30 square meters, but the facilities are luxurious—a clean workbench, a low-temperature centrifuge, a PCR instrument, a gene sequencer, a protein purification system... all the equipment a biological laboratory should have is available, and all of them are the most advanced models.

More importantly, there is a separate rest area in the corner of the room, equipped with a simple bed and a toilet.

This means that Mr. Chen had long anticipated that this would be a protracted battle.

Lin Feng locked the door and connected the hard drive to the computer.

The data came out like a torrent.

He skimmed through the pages rapidly, his brain working like a supercomputer, absorbing, analyzing, and integrating the information…

An hour later, he finished reading all the materials.

He has already made a preliminary assessment of the virus.

"Troublesome," Lin Feng muttered to himself.

But there was no fear in his eyes, only focus.

I walked to the makeshift bed in the rest area, sat down, and closed my eyes.

The moment consciousness sinks into the system space, the flow of time switches to 1:10.

In the pure white space, a three-dimensional model of a high-fever virus emerges.

[New Project Launched: Hua Tuo's Antiviral Drug]

Lin Feng issued the order.

Spatial Response, a virtual laboratory specifically designed for virus research.

On the first day, he analyzed the virus's invasion mechanism.

How does the spike protein bind to the ACE2 receptor? How does binding trigger membrane fusion? How does viral RNA enter the cytoplasm?

Each step was repeatedly reenacted in molecular dynamics simulations. Lin Feng identified seven key targets—blocking any one of them would halt the invasion.

On the third day, he studied the virus's replication process.

How do RNA-dependent RNA polymerases work? How is the genome transcribed and translated? How are newly synthesized viral proteins assembled into complete viral particles?

He discovered the virus's fatal flaw—its polymerase has extremely low fidelity, the root cause of its rapid mutation, but also meaning it's prone to errors. If more errors could be induced…

On the seventh day, he began designing the drug.

The traditional approach is to "kill the virus," but Lin Feng chose a more ingenious path: guiding the virus to "self-destruct."

He designed a small molecule compound, codenamed Hua Tuo-1. Its mechanism of action is to embed itself into the active site of the viral RNA polymerase, not inhibiting its function, but rather increasing its error rate tenfold. In this way, the vast majority of the progeny viruses produced by viral replication will be defective viruses that cannot survive.

At the same time, Huatuo-1 can also bind to the spike protein of the virus, changing its conformation so that it can no longer dock with the ACE2 receptor—this is a double insurance.

On the fifteenth day, he tested the drug's effects in a virtual human body model.

Simulation results showed that 24 hours after administration, viral load decreased by 99.9%; after 48 hours, no live virus was detected; and after 72 hours, the immune system began to clear residual viral particles.

More importantly, because the drug does not directly kill cells but only interferes with viral replication, the side effects are extremely low. In simulations, the only adverse reaction at the highest dose was a mild headache.

"Theoretically feasible," Lin Feng nodded.

But he didn't stop.

Time continues to pass within the system space.

On the thirtieth day, he optimized the drug's pharmacokinetic properties, improving oral bioavailability, prolonging half-life, and reducing the first-pass effect in the liver…

On the sixtieth day, he designed the corresponding diagnostic reagents. Based on the virus's specific sequence, he developed a rapid test card that could produce results within ten minutes.

On the ninetieth day, he perfected the production process. From chemical synthesis routes to quality control standards, from raw material procurement to finished product packaging—a complete industrial production plan was completed.

The tenth month, the last day.

Lin Feng stood in the pure white space, looking at the perfect technical file in front of him.

The simulation is complete.

Lin Feng's consciousness slowly withdrew from the system space.

When I opened my eyes, the clock in the room showed: in the real world, thirty days had passed.

He stood up and stretched his body, which had become stiff from sitting for so long. He walked to the computer and pulled up the past month's worth of external news—

The pandemic has become even more severe.

The number of confirmed cases nationwide has surpassed 30 million, and the death toll has exceeded 5 million. Medical systems have collapsed in multiple locations, and crematoriums are operating 24/7. The international community is in complete chaos, several small governments have collapsed, and the global death toll… has surpassed 100 million.

Human civilization is standing on the edge of a precipice.

Without hesitation, Lin Feng pressed the call button.

Three minutes later, Mr. Chen pushed open the door. His protective suit was stained with sweat, and his eyes revealed undisguised fatigue and anxiety.

"Lin Feng, any progress?" His voice was full of expectation, but also trembling with fear and disappointment.

"Old Chen," Lin Feng turned around, his eyes calm and firm, "I've found a solution."

He retrieved a newly encrypted file from his computer.

"This contains the complete theory, formula, manufacturing process, and clinical trial protocol for the drug." Lin Feng handed over the encrypted USB drive. "Organize production immediately. For the first batch of drugs, I suggest prioritizing frontline medical staff and critically ill patients."

Mr. Chen's hand trembled as he took the USB drive.

It wasn't exhaustion, it was excitement, the ecstasy of escaping from a desperate situation.

"Are you...are you sure it will work?" The old man stared intently at the USB drive, as if it were a lifeline.

"The theory is 100% complete." Lin Feng repeated the number. "Next, we need to verify it. But in my judgment... the success rate is over 99%."

Old Chen took a deep breath, and his eyes instantly reddened.