49: Chapter 49: Daily Life of Being a Lazy Person at the National Base

Three days later.

Northwest Research Base No. 73, Special Consultant's lounge.

The room was climate-controlled, with a two-meter-wide bed in the center.

Opposite the bed, a top-of-the-line Alienware computer sat on a custom adjustable desk, connected by a dedicated military-grade fiber optic cable.

Jiang Feng sat cross-legged in a gaming chair, wearing noise-canceling headphones.

On the computer screen, a yellow heavy-duty truck was speeding off a cliff at 180 km/h.

Accompanied by a series of rolls and explosions, a line of red text popped up on the screen: 【Mission Failed】.

Jiang Feng took off his headphones and picked up his cola to take a sip.

"Taking the country's money, using the country's internet, and playing a capitalist's game," he burped. "This life is not bad."

Ever since that "forced channeling" three days ago, he had started his slacker life at the base, using the excuse of being "severely drained and needing quiet recuperation."

Sleeping until he woke up naturally every day.

His three meals were delivered to his door by designated personnel.

When bored, he would turn on his computer and deliver packages in the virtual world.

Everyone at the base, from Qian Li to Professor Sun, down to the ordinary researchers and soldiers, tacitly agreed not to disturb his recuperation.

In their eyes, every time Consultant Jiang closed his eyes, he was fighting against those ancient forces on another battlefield.

Only Old Chen knew that his boss was just playing video games.

Outside the lounge.

Professor Sun and the Deputy Team Leader of Psychology, Zhou Ming, were pacing at the door, one holding a plate of sliced cantaloupe and the other a stack of printed reports.

The two had been standing there for nearly ten minutes.

"Professor Sun," Zhou Ming whispered, pointing at the colorful light filtering through the door gap. "Consultant Jiang has been 'recuperating' for three days now. I heard from Old Chen that he's almost beaten that game, and our project..."

Professor Sun glared at him and scolded in an even lower voice, "What do you know!"

He clutched the reports in his hands tighter.

"How could we possibly fathom the actions of a master!"

"You think he's just playing games? Let me tell you, he's cultivating!"

Professor Sun looked solemn and began his analysis.

"I've consulted a vast amount of Taoist classics. This is called 'relaxation'! He is adjusting his own frequency through a high-speed information exchange to resist the information pollution brought by the bamboo slip!"

Zhou Ming opened his mouth; he, a cognitive psychology expert, had actually been lectured on metaphysics by an archaeology professor.

"And," Professor Sun continued, "haven't you noticed? The core of the game Consultant Jiang chose is connection and establishment."

"He's using this method to combat the fragmentation and chaos represented by the bamboo slip! He is using the logic of modern technology to neutralize the chaos of ancient sorcery!"

Zhou Ming was stunned.

So... that's how it is?

He looked at the tightly closed door, his eyes filled with a bit more contemplation.

Just as the two were preparing to summon the courage to knock, a lazy voice came from the room.

"Friends outside."

"Are you here for the entropy increase problem of the I Ching model?"

"Come in."

Professor Sun and Zhou Ming outside the door froze simultaneously.

They looked at each other, their eyes full of shock.

They were indeed here today for a mathematical model simulating the spread of information from the bamboo slip!

That model had encountered an unexplainable entropy increase phenomenon during the calculation process, causing the entire research group to stall.

They hadn't even knocked, hadn't said a single word.

How did he know?!

Professor Sun's hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the reports in his hands.

Zhou Ming adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath. "Professor... Professor Sun, Consultant Jiang, he..."

"A divine man! Truly a divine man!" Professor Sun muttered to himself, pushing Zhou Ming. "Quick, go in!"

The two, with mixed feelings, gently pushed open the door.

Inside the room, Jiang Feng had already paused the game.

He spun his gaming chair to face the door, one hand resting on the armrest, the other holding a thermos, his posture lazy.

"Sit," he gestured with his chin towards the sofa in the corner of the room.

Professor Sun and Zhou Ming didn't dare to sit. They walked to the desk and placed the fruit and reports on the corner.

"Consultant Jiang, we... we are here to seek your guidance," Professor Sun said, bowing with a humble tone.

Jiang Feng's gaze fell on the computer screen.

On the screen was the image of his truck crashed in a valley, countless delivery boxes scattered everywhere.

He pointed to the screen and asked out of the blue, "Look, what does this look like?"

Professor Sun and Zhou Ming both leaned in, looking at the game wreckage on the screen, looking puzzled.

Isn't this just... losing the game?

Jiang Feng didn't wait for their answer and explained himself: "Look, this is just like your model."

His finger traced across the screen.

"These scattered boxes are the information you want to crack. The truck is the decoding path you established."

He pointed to the burning truck wreckage, "The total amount of cargo is constant. But you chose the wrong transport route, forcing a ten-ton truck to take a path that only a bicycle can pass through."

Professor Sun and Zhou Ming listened intently, unconsciously following his line of thought.

"The result?" Jiang Feng leaned back in his chair and took a sip of water, "The result is system collapse, the path is destroyed, the cargo is scattered everywhere, and in the end, you get nothing."

He concluded.

"A total mess."

This metaphor using phenomena from the game cleared the fog in the two experts' minds.

Zhou Ming slapped his thigh suddenly, his glasses almost flying off: "I understand! I understand!"

His face flushed with excitement.

"Consultant Jiang! You mean we were wrong from the very beginning!"

He pointed to the stack of reports, his voice trembling, "We have been trying to decode, to translate the symbols on those bamboo slips! We assumed it was information that could be understood!"

"But what if!" Zhou Ming's voice rose, "What if those symbols themselves are just garbled code that cannot be decoded? What if its existence is not intended to convey information, but to force any system attempting to interpret it to overload!"

Professor Sun was also enlightened. He held onto the table, his lips trembling: "Yes... yes! Suppression! Summoning!"

"Its function is not to record, but to act as a tool! Just like a lock, we shouldn't study the structure of the lock core, but rather what it is locking, and... what kind of alarm it will trigger when forced open!"

Two of the country's top experts, in front of Jiang Feng's game console, found a brand-new research direction because of a delivery game.

"Thank you for your guidance, Consultant Jiang!" Professor Sun bowed deeply to Jiang Feng, "We have been enlightened!"

Zhou Ming also bowed, too excited to speak.

"We'll go organize a meeting right now and immediately adjust our research direction!"

The two took the inspiration from Jiang Feng's game, forgetting about the reports and fruit on the table, and ran out.

Jiang Feng watched them leave in a hurry and shrugged.

He put his noise-canceling headphones back on and muttered, "Sigh, leading this bunch of straight-A students is too exhausting."

"When their brains work too well, they tend to overthink."

"And I still have to play role-playing games with them."