205: Chapter 204 Wang Shuo's Choice

"Let me choose?"

Wang Shuo, having re-entered the conference room, looked at the two bigwigs in front of him, somewhat confused about the situation.

"Correct."

Ding Congsheng nodded: "Student Wang Shuo, we have already told you the terms. You can choose to stay at the university and form an independent research group, and we will do our utmost to provide resources for your research; or you can choose to join the Chinese Academy of Sciences directly, where your future prospects will be limitless."

Dean Qin smiled slightly, not exposing Ding Congsheng's little scheme.

Wang Shuo was a bit speechless.

What were these two bigwigs doing?

A dating show?

However, the "Shenchao" supercomputer, ranked eighth in China, sounded very tempting, and it happened to align perfectly with his thoughts.

He was indeed in urgent need of increasing the computing power of Zero, though not for the sake of Zero's commercial release, but for the safety of Hanzhong City.

As the surveillance cameras in Hanzhong City were gradually connected to the Skynet system, the existing computing resources, especially graphics processing resources, were far from meeting the computational demands.

But... while supercomputers were good, in terms of graphics computation alone, they didn't offer much of an improvement. Floating-point operation capability could evaluate a supercomputer's speed, but it couldn't evaluate a supercomputer's actual graphics processing performance.

Wang Shuo turned his gaze to Dean Qin.

"Dean, if I choose 'Shenchao', can I obtain independent usage rights? Can I make modifications to 'Shenchao'? For example, changes to the computing units and structure, or the disassembly and assembly of Chips?"

Dean Qin shook his head slightly: "'Shenchao' has many other uses. I can do my utmost to meet your usage needs, but you cannot use it independently, and even less so make modifications."

The construction of 'Shenchao' cost hundreds of billions, and it had an extremely wide range of users. It was impossible to allow arbitrary modifications; otherwise, no one could bear the losses caused.

Even if it were for a genius like Wang Shuo.

Wang Shuo nodded. He had already guessed this before asking, so he turned his gaze to Principal Ding.

Principal Ding appeared excited and nodded directly: "Student Wang Shuo, as long as you can join the HUST project team and serve as the team leader, you can use the school's existing supercomputer however you like! Modify it as you wish, even if you break it, it doesn't matter! I will take responsibility!"

The school's supercomputer was originally upgraded and improved from students' competition entries. Over the past few years, it had been rented out, and more than half of the costs had already been recovered. Even if it were dismantled, he wouldn't feel bad.

If the higher-ups held him accountable, he could explain it away; at worst, he could give the excuse that it was needed for a competition and had to be dismantled and rebuilt, and he might even be able to apply for some special funding.

As for what to do if he were found out, Principal Ding hadn't even considered it. If you have the ability, revoke my school's ranking; if you have the ability, stop giving us subsidies.

The school was awesome, and the principal was just that willful.

Dean Qin shook his head slightly, revealing a trace of a smile. This was indeed something he couldn't do. He had too many things to consider; the Chinese Academy of Sciences had twelve branches across China, dozens of research institutes, and tens of thousands of researchers, all of whom required his coordination. Some things just couldn't be too willful.

But he had full confidence in "Shenchao".

As long as someone worked with data, no one could resist the temptation of a supercomputer's performance.

It was just that...

"Dean."

Wang Shuo looked at Dean Qin, revealing a trace of apology: "I'm sorry, Dean Qin, I appreciate your kindness, but I feel that Principal Ding's suggestion is more in line with my needs."

Dean Qin was slightly stunned, his brows furrowing slightly: "Student Wang Shuo, you must consider this carefully. 'Shenchao' is hard to come by; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Moreover, although Huazhong University of Science and Technology is not bad, compared to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there is still a gap."

The expression on Ding Congsheng's face shifted, but he did not deny it.

No matter how impressive HUST was, it was only a university, and its resources and influence could not compare with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He looked at Wang Shuo with some worry, afraid that Wang Shuo would not be able to withstand the temptation and change his mind.

"I still stick to my choice." Wang Shuo looked into Dean Qin's eyes, his own eyes bright and very sincere: "Dean Qin, thank you for your trouble."

"What a pity." Dean Qin sighed slightly: "However, this is indeed a good choice. Huazhong University of Science and Technology is still quite good."

Ding Congsheng was speechless.

A prestigious, top-ranked key science and engineering university in China was, in Dean Qin's words, merely "quite good."

"Since you have already decided, then let it be so."

Dean Qin turned his gaze to Ding Congsheng: "Principal Ding, the Ministry of Education documents will be issued in a few days. Regarding the new project team members, research direction, research methods, and research progress, we will make no requirements; everything will be based on Wang Shuo's opinion."

Principal Ding nodded. This degree of freedom was already very high.

"In addition, I still decide to appoint Wang Shuo as a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

Ding Congsheng immediately said anxiously: "Dean Qin, you cannot go back on your word."

"Rest assured, I won't fight you for him." Dean Qin laughed: "The person is still your person; I'm just giving him a Chinese Academy of Sciences status. Is that okay?"

Giving him a Chinese Academy of Sciences status, and still saying he isn't a person of the Chinese Academy of Sciences?

Who would believe that?

Ding Congsheng still wanted to argue, but Dean Qin had already turned his gaze to Wang Shuo.

"The minor matters are done; let's talk about the serious business." Dean Qin's gaze was slightly serious: "Student Wang Shuo, are you interested in cooperating?"

"Cooperation?"

Wang Shuo was slightly surprised.

"Yes, cooperation." Dean Qin nodded: "I heard that Student Wang Shuo opened a company, and this Artificial Intelligence zero egg is sold through this company."

Wang Shuo was not surprised by this. Given Dean Qin's status, checking on him only required a word, and he could be investigated thoroughly in minutes.

Seeing Wang Shuo nod, Dean Qin continued: "Then let's carry out cooperation based on your company. After the cooperation, I will allow you to use the name of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as a strategic partner in your promotions. Furthermore, you yourself can freely enter and exit the Huazhong Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, participate in and visit public research that interests you, and apply to use some of the unique equipment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

"When necessary, I can also permit you to hire experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to help your company with technical breakthroughs."

"In addition, you can apply for project funding support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the name of your company, with experts dispatched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to provide technical guidance and support, and the results will be shared by both parties."

Ding Congsheng listened, dumbfounded. This was far better than the requirements Dean Qin had proposed just moments ago to win over Wang Shuo.

"Dean Qin, since it is a cooperation, the obligations are mutual. I wonder what I am supposed to do?"

Wang Shuo was not the least bit excited and said very calmly.

Dean Qin nodded slightly: "It's very simple. We need independent authorization for zero egg. In other words, we need you to hand over a new Artificial Intelligence to us."

"This Artificial Intelligence must be independent of the existing Artificial Intelligence; data cannot be shared with the existing zero egg, and permissions must also be re-divided."

"Of course, as a reward, in addition to what I mentioned above, the Chinese Academy of Sciences will pay you 50 million annually as operating and maintenance funds."

Wang Shuo understood a little.

This was wanting to rent zero egg, or rather, wanting to rent Zero.

This actually saved him some effort. Originally, he had wanted to propose this plan, but now Dean Qin not only proposed it proactively but also promised a whole bunch of conditions, and importantly, gave money!

50 million annually! For Wang Shuo right now, this was definitely not a small number.

Looking at Ding Congsheng's somewhat envious gaze, Wang Shuo felt a little embarrassed.

How should he answer so as not to reveal his already eager and impatient heart?

...

At this time, Frontier Technology Co., Ltd.

"Finally done."

Gently hitting the Enter key, watching strings of data flow out and emails being sent rapidly, Han Xiaoxin smugly crossed his legs and took a comfortable sip of soda.

"Now it's foolproof. I don't believe anyone can crack my 1,800-zombie-computer chain jump array."

Han Xiaoxin was very proud. This was a new algorithm he had derived by referencing Zero's programming style. Using it for encryption for the first time, he was very confident.

If someone could still find him after this, he could only say that he wasn't suited for this line of work.

But, was it possible?

Besides him, Han Xiaoxin, who else had the talent to make a living in this field?

"Now, I can just quietly watch the show."