341: Chapter 340 Schrödinger's Machine

At 8:00 AM, Wang Shuo, having had plenty of sleep, opened his eyes and immediately felt refreshed.

Through a month of uninterrupted effort, his Trickle Training Method had made significant progress, and his brain strength seemed to be slowly increasing as well.

The most obvious sign was that even when he used his brain heavily, the frequency of nosebleeds was minimal, and his energy was much more abundant than before.

The Trickle Training Method was indeed a good thing; although the strengthening of his brain wasn't as intense as those first two times with the Humanoid Race, it had the advantage of being long-lasting.

If things continued like this, he shouldn't be far from directly touching the core at the center of his Brain Domain space.

Wang Shuo was very confident.

"Zero, report on Guard No. 1's findings from last night. Were there any discoveries?"

Stretching his body, Wang Shuo asked.

"Sir, Guard No. 1 has completed 35% of the established scanning plan, and there have been no suspicious findings so far."

Zero's voice came from the speaker nearby.

Wang Shuo was not surprised by this.

Hanzhong City was very large. Even for a Drone, it would take a considerable amount of time to scan it roughly. Furthermore, he didn't have many Drones; at most, there were a few hundred modified Guard No. 1 units, so it was impossible to perform pinpoint scanning.

"Continue with the scanning mission. If necessary, you may lower the altitude."

Wang Shuo thought for a moment and added, "If the Sky Eye System detects any suspicious personnel, dispatch the modified Guard No. 1 to confirm. Once the target is confirmed, you are authorized to enable Hunting Mode and deploy Drones to make an arrest."

"Command confirmed, sir."

Zero's voice was very steady, without any fluctuation.

"Hmm."

Wang Shuo nodded and checked the time. It was almost 8:10 AM, and his stomach was already growling.

That girl Chen Xin hadn't been around for the past two days, so even breakfast had become a problem for him.

Rubbing his stomach, Wang Shuo was just about to go downstairs to scrounge for some food when he suddenly remembered something.

"Zero, how is the preparation for Night Crow going?"

Zero replied, "It is currently being debugged, sir. The progress has reached 80%, and the final few test items require your confirmation."

"Very good."

Wang Shuo nodded in satisfaction.

That was the good thing about Artificial Intelligence; as long as the assigned task was given, it would be completed meticulously. Even if you forgot, it wouldn't.

Of course, the premise was that the Artificial Intelligence was smart enough; otherwise, the experience would be hard to describe.

Ten minutes later, a well-fed and satisfied Wang Shuo rubbed his stomach, walked out of the company gate, and got into a black business car.

Behind him, Xu Kexin gazed at him with a resentful expression.

"Seriously."

Until the vehicle drove out of sight, Xu Kexin sighed faintly, "He's such a big boss, yet he actually stole his subordinate's steamed bun to eat... Forget it, let me ask zero egg to order another portion for me."

She paused, as if remembering something else, knitted her brows slightly, and huffed, "Hmph, this young lady is in a good mood today, so I'll order one for that idiot too, so he doesn't annoy me again."

As she spoke, she picked up her phone, glanced at it, and smiled brightly.

The business car drove very fast, and in just a few minutes, it arrived at the school gate.

Wang Shuo had the driver park the car some distance from the school gate, got out, and strolled toward the inside of the school.

It was currently class time, and the students on campus were in a hurry. Many students brushed past Wang Shuo, but no one paid any attention to him, and not a single person even found it strange that he was walking against the flow of traffic.

Wang Shuo suddenly had a feeling of being out of place with the environment before him, as if he shouldn't belong here, or even shouldn't be here. He should belong to a higher level, and he should stand at the peak looking down on them.

He only needed to make this world listen to one voice, one will.

Wang Shuo immediately stopped in his tracks, stood in place, and frowned slightly.

That feeling just now... was it a side effect of reading the Humanoid Race database?

Shaking his head to cast this strange feeling out of his mind, Wang Shuo took another step and walked toward the administration building.

He did not notice that not far behind him, a long-haired girl holding books was observing him with a strange expression.

"Wang Shuo?"

...

The sixth floor of the administration building.

When Wang Shuo pushed open the door to the dean's office, he felt that today's matters shouldn't be simple.

Otherwise, a big shot like Ding Congsheng wouldn't be sitting in his office early in the morning waiting for him to arrive, and the same went for Professor Zeng.

To be able to have two heavyweight professors waiting here, who exactly was the person coming to see him this time?

Wang Shuo thought quickly in his mind, but his mouth was not slow at all as he greeted Ding Congsheng and Professor Zeng.

"Principal Ding, Professor Zeng, I'm here."

Ding Congsheng nodded with a smile, pointed to the sofa, and said, "Professor Wang Shuo, please sit."

His tone carried a hint of teasing, but what he said was the truth.

That's right, Ding Congsheng had promoted Wang Shuo once again, directly from lecturer to the rank of associate professor.

What was strange was that this irregular procedure had actually been pulled off by him!

The process from the top to the bottom of the Ministry of Education was unexpectedly smooth. No one ran out to criticize Ding Congsheng, and even those who disliked him the most quietly shut their mouths.

Thus, Wang Shuo set several new records: the fastest-promoted associate professor, the youngest associate professor, the least controversial associate professor, the associate professor who could take the position without competition, and so on...

Regarding this, Wang Shuo felt a bit of a headache.

Being a lecturer was already outrageous enough; not to mention depriving him of his college life, he also had to give lectures to others.

Now it was even better, directly an associate professor.

Would he have to supervise graduate students in the future?

Heaven knows, he was only eighteen this year! He was just a freshman!

Principal Ding, doesn't your conscience really hurt when you do this?

Facts proved that it really didn't. Not only did it not hurt, but if there was a chance, Ding Congsheng would even want to give the position of principal to Wang Shuo. That way, Wang Shuo would forever be labeled with Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and if others wanted to poach him, they would have to see if the higher-ups agreed or not.

"Principal Ding, this professor..."

Wang Shuo smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid I'm not qualified for it."

"Stop."

Ding Congsheng waved his hand, "We have discussed this topic many times, so let's not repeat it. Besides, if your achievements aren't worthy of an associate professor, then who else could be an associate professor?"

Ding Congsheng pointed at Professor Zeng, who was innocently caught in the crossfire.

"Old Zeng? You ask him how many years he has been researching intelligence, and what achievements has he made?"

Professor Zeng smiled and shook his head, "Old Ding, if you want to give an example, don't include me. In the whole of China, who can compare to Wang Shuo in terms of Artificial Intelligence?"

"Exactly."

Ding Congsheng said very calmly, "It is precisely because no one can compare that I think Wang Shuo is fully qualified for associate professor, and it might even be a waste of his talent. What do you think, Old Ding?"

The two of them sang the same tune, and Wang Shuo's bitter smile deepened.

Seeing that Wang Shuo didn't speak, Ding Congsheng then said, "There are many benefits to being a professor; you can experience them slowly. As for supervising students and such, if you are not willing, I can choose not to arrange it for you."

Wang Shuo could only say, "Thank you, Principal Ding."

"It's a small matter."

A smile hung on Ding Congsheng's face, as if he had finally completed a major task. He said, "I've been quite busy these past few days and haven't asked you yet. How are the two Lithography Machines that I had Old Zeng allocate to you working out?"

"Very good."

Wang Shuo nodded and said, "After dismantling them, it was clear and easy to understand. It allowed me to understand the basic structure of modern Lithography Machines, which helped me a lot."

"That's good."

Ding Congsheng nodded with gratification, "I spent a lot of money asking friends to find those, and it took quite a bit of effort. If they can help you, it means my efforts weren't in vain..."

Speaking of this, Ding Congsheng seemed to sense something was wrong, and he cast his gaze toward Wang Shuo.

"What did you just say? Dismantled?"

Wang Shuo spread his hands, "Dismantled."

Ding Congsheng squeezed out a smile, "If you just opened the outer shell, that's not a big deal..."

"Principal Ding, I dismantled the whole thing."

Ding Congsheng paused, his voice trembling slightly.

"Dismantled the whole thing?"

Wang Shuo gave Principal Ding a strange look and nodded, "Because I needed to check the internal precision circuits and optical path designs, I dismantled it completely."

The hand holding the teacup shook, and a little tea spilled over the side of the cup. He said reluctantly, "Research, you know, dismantling one machine to take a look is normal, as long as the other one..."

As he spoke, Ding Congsheng looked into Wang Shuo's eyes, and the words on his lips stopped abruptly, "Wang Shuo, don't tell me you also... the other one..."

Wang Shuo showed an apologetic expression, "Principal Ding, because the two machines were a few years apart in age, I wanted to see if ASML had any technological progress, so I dismantled the other one too..."

"Clatter."

The teacup he was holding fell onto the tea tray, making a crisp sound. Principal Ding was stunned for a long while, then looked at Wang Shuo and said, "Is there no possibility of restoration?"

After asking the question, Ding Congsheng realized he had asked a stupid question. A gadget like a Lithography Machine had a precision level more than an order of magnitude higher than a machine tool. Dismantling it and reassembling it was simply a fantasy; even if ASML engineers came personally, it would probably be difficult.

Thus, he coughed and added, "It doesn't matter if it can't be restored. It's just a machine; if it's dismantled, it's dismantled. Don't have too much psychological burden..."

"It can be restored."

Wang Shuo's voice was calm.

Ding Congsheng was stunned once again, "It can be restored?"

"Hmm."

Wang Shuo nodded and said, "I have finished examining all the structures. Except for some structural components, the rest have been put back together by me, and the functionality is not affected."

Looking at Wang Shuo's sincere expression, Ding Congsheng didn't know what to say for a moment. He even had the sense of surprise of opening a blind box; you would never know what the state of the machine mentioned by Wang Shuo would be in the next moment.

He coughed to cover up his embarrassment and said, "Hmm... this, I'm not really worried about the machine; I'm mainly worried that you are wasting too much time on dismantling machines and don't have time to do other things..."

Professor Zeng was watching him with a smile nearby.

"Alright."

Ding Congsheng sighed, "I really borrowed these two machines by shamelessly asking for favors. I just wanted to ask you today, if you have finished researching them, can we send them back? Since the machines are intact now, that would be for the best."

"Principal Ding, is the other party unwilling to sell? I can pay."

Ding Congsheng shook his head slightly, "This is not a question of money."

This meant it was non-negotiable.

Regarding this, Wang Shuo didn't have any particular feelings.

Dismantling a Lithography Machine was nothing to him, and restoring it completely was even less of a concern. He wasn't worried about the machine having problems.

It was just that these two machines had already had some of their structures changed by him, and new functions had been designed based on their original functions. If they could be kept, Wang Shuo still hoped to keep them.

Before the Super Chip was officially announced for sale, these two machines were just a waste in the hands of the other party.

But the other party wouldn't sell, and looking at Principal Ding's expression, it might really not be a question of money. Wang Shuo had no way to deal with this.

This topic came to an end.

Professor Zeng, who had been watching the joke for a long time from the side, symbolically comforted his old friend and then turned his head toward Wang Shuo.

"Wang Shuo, there is no other business for coming here today. Mainly, there is someone who wants to see you, and I think you should want to see him too."

Professor Zeng's words successfully aroused Wang Shuo's curiosity. Who was the person who wanted to see him and whom he also wanted to see?

"You should have heard of this person too."

Professor Zeng said with a smile, "His surname is Fang, and his name is Mayor Fang Dingbei."

"Fang..."

Wang Shuo pondered silently for a moment. Nowadays, his memory was no less than photographic. After just a slight reflection, he remembered where he had heard this name and blurted out:

"Hanzhong City mayor... Mayor Fang Dingbei!"