Tang Xiao just sighed. He continued to look around at the scholars present with his thesis in hand. Since the other party wasn’t coming over, he would go over to find the mountain.
Anyway, there was more than one newbie scholar present who did this. It was just a game. What kind of face did he want?
“Hello, are you free? Are you interested in reading this thesis?”
“Hello. I would like to introduce you to my research…”
“No, no. I’m not trying to refute Bader’s point of view. However, I think maybe there are possibilities for 428.”
Tang Xiao went around to find scholars to hand over his thesis. Even if he was rejected, he didn’t get tired of it. Anyway, this was just a game, and he didn’t feel ashamed. Players had done even more humiliating things. So, he came to ask one by one, and wouldn’t blush if he was rejected.
The newbie researchers around him were stunned.
Although everyone was a newcomer, it was the norm to be rejected for submitting their thesis. Everyone was a highly educated talent and it would be embarrassing to be rejected in person.
Who would have thought that a shameless one would suddenly appear? It was not even limited to senior scholars, as he would ask one scholar after another all over the venue. Both those with rank and those without rank were within his hunting range.
Despite being rejected, he didn't let it affect his defense. He even graciously thanked them, which made those around him look at him with curiosity and admiration.
428 stayed quietly in his pocket, hiding its breath. After Tang Xiao was rejected more than a dozen times, he finally couldn’t help but poke its head out.
Why hasn’t he given up yet?
428 was confused in his heart. Isn’t he lying? Isn’t that just another lie he told to stay alive? Why does he have to fight so hard?
Tang Xiao kept recommending the paper in his hand to one weak white coat after another, and 428 observed as they rejected him with a stony expression. Even if it couldn’t understand their communication, it could see the rejection and ridicule suffered by the young man from the demeanor and body language of the people.
428 thought that Tang Xiao would be angry and explode. It had seen the other party’s edge with its own eyes. In the dark kitchen, in the dim prison cell, in the countless times when facing itself, who was stronger than him. He had never bowed his head, but he bowed his head to these humans who were much weaker than it.
That strange sense of irritability rose again.
“Give up. This project has cost countless funds and so many resources. What did it get in the end?” Another scholar who was stopped by Tang Xiao shook his head indifferently after reading the paper.
“As long as its key point is not manifested, no matter how strong its physical fitness is now, it does not affect Third Eye or humans. There are as many powerful beasts out there as there are people. There are even superpowered people. Can it be stronger than these monsters?”
“Although your thesis is indeed a bit interesting, I still say the same thing. Give up. 428 has no value on it. It’s just garbage that should be disposed of. Save those crazy people from eyeing this place. You are still young. Don’t go the wrong way.”
As he spoke, the scholar casually returned the paper to Tang Xiao. Tang Xiao calmly reached out to take it and before he could hold it, the man had already walked away. The paper was scattered all over the ground.
Garbage…
The word reminded 428 of its previous memories. Front the researchers excitedly huddled it outside the glass saying it was the future and a treasure, to the back of the lab where fewer and fewer people stared at it. Those eyes harbored disappointment and numbness.
428 didn’t understand anything at first. Even his sanity was confused. Before he met Tang Xiao, all his memories were vague and his wisdom was also dusted. He only remembered those eyes clearly.
Because the instinct to survive told it.
Those eyes meant that it was about to come to the end of its life, like other experimental subjects.
Rustle——
The sound of reality brought 428 back to its senses. It saw Tang Xiao crouching down, silently picking up the paper on the ground.
The paper scattered quickly. The hall was full of people. In order not to be stepped on, Tang Xiao could only pick it up quickly, which seemed embarrassing. With 428’s hearing, it could hear the whispers of others behind Tang Xiao’s back.
“He hasn’t given up yet?”
“It’s a failed project. A newcomer wouldn’t think that he could overthrow the results of a year spent by a Level 4 scholar on his own, right?”
“I had this kind of dream when I was younger.”
“What would Bader think? Do young people these days even think about the consequences? As long as Bader says a word, he won’t be able to get along in the academic world at all.”
428 suddenly felt a nameless fire in his heart. An inexplicable killing intent surged in his mind. Those who gossiped only felt a chill in the back of their heads. They looked left and right but did not find the source.
Tang Xiao bent down and calmly picked up the papers scattered on the ground.
A pair of leather shoes came into view. Tang Xiao raised his head and saw Lodge standing before him, holding the remaining paper in his hand and then handing it to Tang Xiao.
“Thank you.”
Lodge pursed his lips but still couldn’t resist saying, “You better change the project. Bader probably already knows about the matter here. With his connections… no one will recognize your thesis.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you still insisting?”
“Because it’s what I believe to be the truth.” Tang Xiao said calmly.
Lodge was stunned.
At this time, Tang Xiao had already turned around and sorted out the papers he had picked up. He looked at the other scholars, who were coming in one after another in the hall. After choosing his target, he calmly passed by Lodge.
There was no miracle among the next scholars. They didn’t even look at them, directly ignoring Tang Xiao after he handed over the papers and walked into the venue.
As if getting some kind of rumor, they shunned Tang Xiao.
Is it Bader?
Tang Xiao had already expected this consequence and only regretted a little that he hadn’t convinced a few people before Bader reacted.
It’s troublesome now. If it was originally a hard difficulty, it’s now a hell difficult to restart the originally failed project.
After being ignored by the scholars, who hurriedly entered the venue. Tang Xiao sighed and returned to what was originally his whiteboard to ponder what to do next.
When the short-haired man saw him come back, he couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. “Awesome ah. Brother, not to mention anything else, just based on this thick face, you’re sure to have a big career in the future.”
Tang Xiao didn’t raise his head. “Thank you. I wish you success.”
“Thank you. It’s a pity that I didn’t gain anything this time. Alas, the year is not as good as it should be.” The man sighed and began to pack his things. “By the way, my name is Li Ji. Nice to meet you. Unfortunately, I should get going as well. There’s another presentation of interest to listen to. How about it? Would you like to join us?”
As soon as Tang Xiao wanted to refuse, he listened to Li Ji saying, “I don’t think you have anything to gain here. It’s better to find another way. The scholars who can carry out the presentation are those who have already made certain achievements. If you can arouse the interest of these people, maybe there is really a chance… Of course, the success rate remains low.”
Tang Xiao’s heart moved when he heard this. It seemed that it was indeed a solution. “Then do you know where the presentation will be held?”
“Hey, don’t bother. Just follow me!”
……
The dark-skinned man was really enthusiastic, bragging to Tang Xiao all the way about how awesome this scholar who conducted the presentation was, almost writing the word ‘fanboy’ on his face.
“Let me tell you. Dr. Feng is really a treasure for all mankind. Treasure, do you know? Although she is nearly 50 years old, the achievements she has made in this life include… and now that research has been done to accurately detect zombie mushroom infections. You can’t imagine how many disasters could have been averted if this had come to fruition…”
Tang Xiao listened expressionlessly the whole way, realizing that this brother might not be bragging when he saw the venue’s layout.
The security check when entering was very strict and stricter than other presentations. In addition to a tall armed man in uniform, there was also a man in a mask sitting on a chair, looking at them with a smile. Tang Xiao felt familiar when he saw this figure for some reason.
He quickly withdrew his gaze, passed through security, and followed Lodge into the central hall.
It was about the size of a real-life concert hall. It was crowded with people, with a prominent slogan on the wall above the stage.
[Wisdom is the Third Eye through which human beings observe the world.]
In addition, there was the Third Eye organization’s mark, a pair of closed eyes with an open vertical pupil in the middle of the eyebrow.
As soon as Tang Xiao sat down, his face suddenly turned a little ugly.
The man thought he didn’t like crowded places and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. “Are you okay?”
Tang Xiao sat down and smiled reluctantly. “It’s okay.”
Having said that he pretended to knock over the bottled water and between bending over, gritted his teeth and said in a quiet tone, “How did you get in here?”
Tang Xiao’s pocket moved. There was a small piece of mycelium stretched out, thin and long, like bamboo worms, bloody red.
When was this guy in ah? It’s scary.
428 shook its slender limbs and looped his mycelium around Tang Xiao’s fingers.
When he thought of how he was almost implicated in the discovery, Tang Xiao was furious. Seeing that 428 didn’t answer, he added, “Don’t emerge. Don’t make any noise!”
The mycelium behaved itself and retracted back into the pocket.
So obedient today?
Tang Xiao’s doubts flickered in his mind, but there were too many people around and it was not good to probe. He simply stopped caring about it. To avoid being discovered, he even straightened up.
Fortunately, the gazes of the people around him weren’t on Tang Xiao, nor were Li Ji’s, because the presentation had already begun.
A nearly fifty-year-old woman stepped up to the stage and opened her mouth to say something as the PPT was shown:
“Five years ago, there was a zombie mushroom outbreak. Base 4-21 fell overnight, 130,000 people died from the infection, 218,200 were missing, countless were injured, and more than 90,000 fled, making it the biggest outbreak of mushroom infections in the human race in the last hundred years.”
“The zombie mushroom is undoubtedly one of the greatest threats to humanity in modern times. Once infected, it will continue to attack its own kind, spreading spores and destroying countless cities as a result.”
“The most difficult aspects of this mushroom are the indistinguishable nature of the infected and the evolutionary nature of the mushroom. It’s difficult for regular people to tell if the spores have infected an individual. But today, this problem is a thing of the past.”
One image was shocking. Tang Xiao hadn’t taken it seriously but couldn’t help but tense his nerves after a mushroom version of a zombie appeared on the screen.
At this time, some movement came from the side. Tang Xiao took a look and realized that it was the service staff handing out papers.
The title was succinct <Detection of the Zombie Mushroom T21>
A loud gasp of surprise came around. Those scholars more or less knew what this big shot’s research was about but they still couldn’t help but be shocked when the results were actually laid out before them.
For a moment to the end of the video, the venue was frighteningly quiet. The only sound was the rustling of each person’s papers as they flipped through them.
Dr. Feng thoughtfully left a little time for the scholars in the audience to go through the materials. After ten minutes, the stage lights came back on.
Tang Xiao looked toward the stage, on which a white board had been added at some point.
“Thank you very much for your participation. As my title says, my most recent research resulted in a zombie mushroom detection method.”
“Since human history has been recorded, the problem of mushroom infections has been plaguing us. The wild and the forest are permanently a human-forbidden area. History has set off countless mushroom infections caused by the disaster. Among these, the zombie mushroom is the most fatal. The fundamental reason is that the zombie mushroom will continue to evolve and update the logic of infection, but now we have finally found a way to be able to perfectly detect the zombie mushroom.”
“So now, let me explain our work results this year.”
The audience’s gaze was glued to the speaker’s every move on the stage. The old woman continued to elaborate on her thesis without changing her color under the gaze of many eyes.
At this time, Tang Xiao had long been in the game, and more or less knew the significance of this results release.
In Resident Evil, it would probably be the invention of the machine that perfectly detected the zombie virus. In fact, it was even harder than that because the zombie mushroom had been evolving in its pathway of infection. It was scarier than any real infectious disease because it was so insidious.
It was a cure, but it was destined to be a great achievement. He couldn’t help but glance down at the author of the thesis as he thought about it.
Feng Shuyun.
After the speech, it was time for the defense session, where different scholars got up and asked a few questions, which Feng Shuyun answered freely until an older scholar raised his hand to ask a question.
“I’d like to ask you about the formula on page 12, line 5 of your thesis.”
“What’s the problem?” After seeing who the questioner was, Feng Shuyun visibly frowned.
“There’s nothing wrong with the formula quoted above, but I did some math and it seems that this data should not be obtained.”
Feng Shuyun froze for a moment and looked down to check the formula. Her brow tightening the more she looked at it, while the smirk on the questioner’s face became deeper.
There was a long-lasting silence on the stage. The people under the stage gradually realized what was going on and began to whisper. Tang Xiao asked, “Fake data?”
“Not really,” The dark-skinned man next to him looked grave. “It’s just a data error. The concepts are all correct. You don’t normally make elementary mistakes like that because critical data is sent to the supercomputers and is double-checked… How could Dr. Feng have made that mistake?”
“Isn’t it enough to modify the data?”
“No. A thesis like this one that involves falsified data will be typed back and can’t be resubmitted until at least a week later… If another scholar’s research is at a similar pace at this time, it’s impossible to say.” The dark-skinned man gritted his teeth. “Damn old man. I recognize him. He’s in a scientific competition with Dr. Feng, MD, no wonder he’s screwing her.”
Tang Xiao thought. It seems that the academic environment in the Third Eye is not so pure.
Feng Shuyun on the stage did not immediately answer. The field immediately resounded with the sound of whispers. The people here were not stupid. From that old scholar prepared word, the others waited as trouble lay ahead.
Just at this time, Tang Xiao suddenly felt the pocket of his white coat move again. It was 428 drilled out. He was a little angry. He had no choice but to pretend that the water bottle fell again to bend over and look coldly at 428. “I’ve already said don’t…”
The mycelium tugged Tang Xiao’s coat with a deadly grip. The other side pointed in the direction of the doorway. It seemed to be reminding him of something.
Feng Shuyun was on stage for a long time. After five minutes, she said, “This data does have some problems.”
The old scholar sneered and said, “So…”
It was at that moment that the change came.
There were a few loud noises in their ears.
The venue’s height of nearly six or seven meters, and there was an explosion in the dome. Several people did not react as they saw the stone fall from the ceiling, burying the four entrances and exits. Even several stones hit the fellows sitting in the corner.
The sudden change made everyone in the field fall into a frozen state, not waiting for them to come back to their senses, the person who was originally sitting in the back position suddenly rose, madly pouncing towards the people next to him to bite.
All of a sudden, screams filled every corner of the venue. Tang Xiao only heard a ‘Watch out!’ from the side and a sharp pain suddenly came from his neck. By the time he broke away from the attacker next to him, it was too late.
His vision turned red. The game’s warning came over and over again.
[You are infected and your HP is dropping]
[Game Over!]
[You have obtained CG: <The Longest Night is Yet to Come>
Description: The night before dawn, still a deep darkness. Mankind is not yet ready for the light. Someone murmurs, ‘Wisdom returns to the original chaos.’]
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